AND 

THE 


Islands 


Pl^mfiLff^H 

|G.M.  MATHEWS 
S.S.HOUGH 

BXW8 


tihvaxy  of  Che  Cheolocjiccd  Seminary 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

Rufus  H.   LeFevre 

BX9&7S 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2009  with  funding  from 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


http://www.archive.org/details/callofchinaislanOOmath 


FrOin  "The   Uplift  of  China' 


■*.»■ 


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11  1952 


feafilCAL  8t^ 


The  Call  of  China 
and  the  Islands 


Report  of  the  Foreign  Deputation,  1911  — 

1912,   for   every  Member  of  the 

United  Brethren  Church 


by 


G.  M.  MATHEWS,  D.  D„ 

Bishop  of  the  Central  District 

S.  S.  HOUGH,  D.  D., 

Secretary  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
Foreword  by  Bishop  W.  M.  BELL,  D.  D. 


FOREIGN    MISSIONARY    SOCIETY 
UNITED  BRETHREN  IN  CHRIST 

Dayton,    Ohio 


THE  expansion  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
throughout  the  whole  earth  is  now  the 
most  urgent  project  appealing  to  the  human 
mind.  By  direct  and  indirect  effort  this  su- 
premely constructive  factor  in  human  progress 
is  being  set  forward.  Diplomacy,  travel,  com- 
merce, science,  invention — all  are  making  indirect 
contributions.  The  direct  contribution  is  coming 
from  those  who  have  caught  a  vision  of  the  aims 
of  Christ  for  the  world,  and  have  accepted  their 
responsibility  under  the  great  commission. 

Investment  of  life  and  money  in  carrying  out 
the  comprehensive  program  of  Christ  for  the 
whole  human  race  is  the  highest  wisdom.  No 
note  of  regret  has  ever  come  from  those  who 
have  acted  upon  this  principle.  Invariably  it 
has  been  found  that  such  investment  has  yielded 
dividends  ample  and  rich.  Other  investments  of 
life  and  energy  have  been  found  deeply  and  bit- 
terly disappointing. 

Not  so  with  those  who  put  themselves  into 
comradeship  with  Christ  and  consecrate  life  to  his 
aims.  They  find  the  content  of  Christ  and  his 
gospel  rich  beyond  all  anticipation.  They  find 
service  with  him  glorious  and  compensating. 
They  know  in  absolute  certainty  that  either 
within  their  own  life  time  or  in  the  days  that 


^0 


follow  their  going  hence,  their  seed-sowing  will 
not  fail  of  fruitage  and  increase. 

No  human  life  can  be  perfected  save  in  service 
in  the  kingdom  of  God.  Jesus,  the  Lord  of  all 
life,  stands  for  the  dedication  of  all  life  to  him, 
as  also  of  all  wealth  to  him.  This  is  not  any 
arbitrary  law,  but  because  it  is  the  way  to  our 
own  and  the  world's  enrichment  and  salvation. 
Christ  points  and  leads  ever  to  the  great  problem 
of  spiritual  regeneration  and  stewardship. 

Wealth  is  either  a  trust  to  be  administered,  or 
a  peril  to  be  escaped.  The  love  of  money  is  a 
most  insidious  danger.  There  is  really  no  such 
thing  as  human  ownership.  Instead  of  owning 
his  wealth  the  rich  man  owes  it.  It  requires 
great  character  to  enable  one  to  make  of  wealth 
a  friend  to  lead  him  to  heaven  and  heavenly 
reward. 

The  Church  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ 
has  made  commendable  progress  in  all  its  invit- 
ing foreign  missions.  Great  leaders  are  at  work 
in  every  one  of  them.  We  have  offered  a  list 
of  noble  martyrs  and  paid  the  price  of  blood.  A 
half  century  of  work  abroad  has  brought  us  to 
definite  demands  and  graciously  enlarging  re- 
quirements. The  primary  work  of  evangelism 
has  brought  its  fruits  and  problems.  The  native 
church  is  accepting  a  larger  responsibility  and 
reaching  a  capacity  for  initiative  and  administra- 
tion. Institutions  for  the  training  of  the  native 
leadership  and  for  the  relief  of  human  suffering 
are  called  for,  and  the  siege  work  of  the  kingdom 

4 


is  at  hand.  All  the  agencies  of  Christian  civili- 
zation are  to  be  inaugurated. 

Occasional  visits  to  the  foreign  fields  by  the 
officials  of  the  home  Church  have  always  been 
fruitful  of  good.  The  rapidly  growing  native 
church  presents  new  and  complex  problems  which 
call  for  closer  supervision  on  the  part  of  those 
who  administer  foreign  missions  so  as  to  put  to 
the  best  possible  use  the  lives  and  the  money 
invested  in  the  work. 

The  past  year  was  set  apart  by  the  Church  for 
a  visit  and  thorough  study  of  four  of  our  foreign 
fields.  Bishop  G.  M.  Mathews,  D.D.,  made  a 
visit  to  Porto  Rico  during  January  and  February, 
and  S.  S.  Hough,  D.D.,  General  Secretary  of  our 
Foreign  Missionary  Society,  visited  Japan,  China, 
and  the  Philippines  from  October  to  April. 

The  present  volume  is  the  report  of  these  visits 
for  the  membership  of  the  Church  at  large.  The 
remarkable  transformations  that  are  taking  place 
in  our  foreign  fields  are  here  vividly  set  forth. 
Every  member  of  our  denomination  will  be 
greatly  enriched  by  reading  this  report.  A  large 
opportunity  is  here  set  before  us.  The  plans 
and  policies  recommended  were  carefully  con- 
sidered in  detail  at  the  recent  Board  meeting,  and 
with  absolute  unanimity  approved.  There  is  no 
mistake  but  that  we  face  an  opportunity  which 
will  not  find  a  parallel  in  the  life  of  the  present 
generation  of  United  Brethren.  Our  supreme 
hour  is  upon  us  and  we  dare  not,  must  not  fail. 

A  copy  of  this  book  in  every  home  of  the 
Church  will  go  far  toward  guaranteeing  a  suit- 
5 


able  and  adequate  response  to  our  opportunity. 
Let  earnest,  continuous  prayer  rise  to  God  for 
this  work.  We  must  do  heroic  giving,  though 
nothing  unreasonable  is  asked.  An  income  to 
the  Foreign  Board  of  $150,000  annually  for  the 
next  five  years,  plus  the  equipment  called  for, 
will  execute  the  schedule  and  set  forward  greatly 
the  Christianizing  of  the  world.  Let  us  not  dis- 
appoint Christ  in  this  gracious  hour. 

(Bishop)  Wm.  M.  Bell, 

President  Board  of  Foreign  Missions, 

United  Brethren  in  Christ. 


GJcmtrnta 

Chapter  Page 

Foreword. 

I.     New  China By  S.  S.  Hough,  D.D.  11 

II.     Progressive  Japan.  ..By  S.  S.  Hough,  D.D.  47 

III.     The    Advancing    Philippines 

By  S.  S.  Hough,  D.D.  68 

IV.     Beautiful    Porto    Rico 

By  Bishop  G.  M.  Mathews,  D.D.  92 

V.     What  Shall  Be  Our  Response? 107 

Appendix — Books  for  Further  Investigation 120 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

China's    Repuhlican    Leaders,   Sun   Yat   Sen   and 

Yuan  Shih  Kai Frontispiece 

Ward,  Howard,  and  Oldt  Locating  on  the  Map 

Our  Responsibility  in  South   China 16 

Parade  Celebrating  the  Closing  of  the  Gambling 

Dens,  Canton   16 

Calisthenics  Class,  Miller  Seminary,  Canton 17 

One  of  China's  Idols 32 

The  Ancient  Wall  of  Canton  Disappearing 32 

Bed  Time  at  the  Foundling  Home] 

Beth  Eden  Compound,  Canton         J- 33 

Doctor  Oldt  Removing  a  Polypus  J 

The  New  Emperor  of  Japan 48 

Our  Japanese  Pastors  at  Breakfast 49 

Intermediate  Boys  and  Girls,  Honjo  U.  B.  Sun- 
day School,  Tokyo 64 

Bird's-Eye  View  of  the  Doshisha 64 

Harajuku  U.  B.  Church,  Tokyo 65 

On  the  Way  to  Annual  Conference,  Philippines.  80 

San  Fernando  U.  B.  Church 80 

Professor  Camilo  Osias 81 

Missionaries  in  the  Making,  Philippines 88 

Filipino  Boys  and  Girls 88 

Quarterly   Conference   and   Business   Meeting  at 

Balaoan 89 

Lay  Delegates,  Philippine  Conference 89 

Public  School,  Juana  Diaz 96 

Coming  Porto  Rican  Citizens 96 

Lay  Delegates,  Pastors,  and  Missionaries,  Porto 

Rico  U.  B.  Mission  Conference 97 

El  Pino  U.  B.  Chapel 112 

Mt.  Hermon  Rest  Cottage,  Porto  Rico 112 

United  Brethren  Headquarters,  Ponce 113 


3!??  Olall  nf  Qlijuta 
anh  tljr  ilslan&a 


Nftu  (pitta 

When  I  left  America  in  October,  1911,  to 
inspect  the  mission  work  in  China,  the  Philip- 
pines, and  Japan,  the  daily  papers  announced  in 
striking  headlines  that  China  was  in  the  throes 
of  a  mighty  civil  war.  On  arrival  at  Honolulu 
the  reports  from  China  indicated  that  the  revo- 
lution had  gained  alarming  proportions.  Eleven 
days  later,  when  our  steamship  Manchuria  an- 
chored at  Yokohama,  Japan,  we  learned  that 
millions  of  Chinese  had  cut  off  their  queues.  The 
queue  was  the  sign  of  allegiance  to  the  Manchus. 
It  then  took  just  two  nights  for  the  queues  of 
the  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  Chinese  stew- 
ards and  waiters  on  our  ship  to  disappear  to  the 
hearty  applause  of  the  passengers. 

When  we  arrived  in  the  midst  of  China,  it  be- 
came clear  that  the  revolution  could  no  more  be 
put  down  than  the  tides  of  the  sea  could  be 
pushed  back.  The  outside  world  did  not  realize 
that  China  had  been  prepared  thoroughly  for  a 
sweeping  revolution,  that  she  was  like  a  great 
dry  forest  which  needed  but  a  match  applied  any- 
where to  start  a  general  conflagration.  The  un- 
expected took  place.  Like  a  prairie  fire,  the 
revolution  swept  from  city  to  city,  and  from 
province  to  province,  and  in  less  than  two  months 
the  revolutionary  forces  had  taken  fifteen  of  the 

11 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

eighteen  provinces.  A  new  republic  was  organ- 
ized, and  China,  with  one-fourth  of  the  world's 
population,  thus  suddenly  passed  through  the 
most  colossal  transformation  known  in  history. 
Truly,  the  hour  had  come  for  God  to  fulfill 
prophecy,  "a  nation  born  in  a  day." 

One  hundred  and  five  years  ago,  when  Robert 
Morrison  started  for  China  as  its  first  Protestant 
missionary,  a  man  of  prominence  in  New  York 
City  sneeringly  said  to  him,  "And  so,  Mr.  Mor- 
rison, you  really  expect  to  make  an  impression 
on  the  idolatry  of  China?"  "No,  sir,"  he  replied, 
"I  expect  God  will." 

Since  that  day  there  has  been  a  century  of  con- 
flict between  light  and  darkness,  and  Lowell's 
significant  lines  have  been  fulfilled  again : 

"Careless  seems  the  great  Avenger; 

History's  pages  but  record 
One  death  grapple  in  the  darkness 

'Tivixt  old  systems  and  the  Word; 
Truth  forever  on  the  scaffold, 

Wrong  forever  on  the  throne, 
Yet  that  scaffold  sways  the  future, 

And  behind  the  dim  unknozvn 
Standeth  God  within  the  shadow, 

Keeping  watch  above  his  own." 

At  the  time  of  the  crisis  in  the  revolution,  the 
emperor  at  Peking,  in  perplexity,  went  forth  to 
worship   his   ancestors,   and   to   call   upon   their 

12 


New  China 

spirits  for  help,  while  General  Li,  at  the  head 
of  the  revolutionary  army,  made  his  appeal  to 
the  living  God ;  and  our  Lord  heard  and  wrought 
mightily  for  those  who  fought  for  righteousness 
and  liberty,  fulfilling  in  a  wonderful  way  before 
our  own  eyes  the  second  Psalm :  "Why  do  the 
heathen  rage,  and  the  people  imagine  a  vain 
thing?  The  kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves, 
and  the  rulers  take  counsel  together,  against  the 
Lord,  and  against  his  anointed,  saying,  Let  us 
break  their  bands  asunder,  and  cast  away  their 
cords  from  us.  He  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens 
shall  laugh :  the  Lord  shall  have  them  in  derision. 
*  *  *  Thou  shalt  break  them  with  a  rod  of  iron ; 
thou  shalt  dash  them  in  pieces  like  a  potter's 
vessel.  Be  wise  now  therefore,  O  ye  kings:  be 
instructed,  ye  judges  of  the  earth." 

Causes  of  the  Revolution. 

After  studying  the  situation  on  the  field  in  the 
midst  of  changing  conditions,  I  regard  the  follow- 
ing as  some  of  the  chief  causes  of  the  revolution : 

1.  China,  by  her  geographical  position,  has 
been  shut  ofT  from  the  rest  of  the  world,  and  so 
has  been  a  nation  unto  herself.  Two  hundred 
and  seventy  years  ago  the  Manchus  came  down 
from  the  north  and  assisted  China  to  win  a  mili- 
tary victory.  They  then  took  possession  of  the 
throne  themselves,  and  so  China  has,  since  that 
time,  been  ruled  by  an  alien  race.  The  Manchus 
adopted  the  fatal  policy  of  sternly  opposing 
Christianity  and  Western  education.  Every- 
13 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

where  they  prevented  talented,  capable  Chinese 
from  doing  the  work  they  by  special  training 
were  fitted  to  do. 

The  emperor  and  his  associates  accumulated 
vast  wealth.  The  sense  of  security  led  them  to 
indolence,  luxury,  and  vice.  Two  rival  clans 
sprang  up  among  the  Manchus,  the  red  girdle 
clan  and  the  yellow  girdle  clan.  They  opposed 
each  other  in  carrying  out  national  policies  and 
thus  presented  the  weakness  of  a  divided  house. 

2.  On  the  other  hand,  Christian  missions  had 
entered  China  and  established  schools  and 
churches.  Many  of  the  young  men  and  young 
women  had  caught  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
were  being  trained  in  the  principles  of  Western 
education.  The  gospel  was  silently  but  power- 
fully permeating  the  lives  of  the  leaders  of  new 
China.  Many  of  these,  in  addition  to  the  train- 
ing received  in  China,  took  post-graduate  courses 
at  Yale,  Harvard,  Columbia,  and  other  universi- 
ties in  America  and  England. 

3.  The  anti-opium  crusade,  led  by  the  mis- 
sionaries and  the  awakened  Chinese,  revealed  to 
China  for  the  first  time  the  power  of  the  plat- 
form. Public  speaking  was  a  new  and  mighty 
advance  for  China.  Many  who  have  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  situation  say  that  the  revolu- 
tion could  not  have  been  won  as  it  was  if  it  had 
not  been  for  the  training  that  thousands  of  Chi- 
nese received  during  the  anti-opium  crusade.  The 
wonderful  success  of  this  movement  filled  these 

14 


New  China 

Chinese  leaders  with  confidence  in  their  ability 
to  do  things. 

They  then  formed  a  crusade  against  legalized 
gambling,  which  has  been  a  curse  in  China  for 
ages.  In  Canton  and  vicinity,  where  two  thou- 
sand gambling  shops  had  been  paying  an  annual 
license  of  a  million  and  a  half  dollars,  they  com- 
pelled them  all  to  close  at  midnight,  March  29, 
1911,  and  on  the  day  following  the  gamblers 
themselves  joined  in  the  celebration  of  the  vic- 
tory. Through  these  anti-gambling  and  anti- 
opium  movements,  young  Chinese  began  to  find 
themselves,  and  they  felt  that  still  greater  achieve- 
ments were  possible. 

4.  The  humiliation  of  China  in  the  war  with 
Japan,  in  1894  and  1895,  and  the  Boxer  uprising 
in  1900,  revealed  the  weakness  of  China,  not  only 
to  the  outside  world,  but  to  the  Chinese  leaders 
themselves.  The  victory  of  Japan  over  Russia, 
in  1905,  strengthened  the  conviction  that  China 
must  change.  Some  fifteen  thousand  of  China's 
most  progressive  young  men,  who  had  seen  a 
vision  of  their  country's  possibilities,  left  China 
for  Japan  to  study  the  secret  of  the  greatness  and 
power  of  the  "Sunrise  Kingdom."  Other  stu- 
dents went  to  America  and  to  England  for 
special  studies. 

5.  Simultaneous  with  these  significant  move- 
ments and  events,  God  had  been  preparing  a 
young  man,  Sun  Yat  Sen,  to  become  a  construc- 
tive leader  and  organizer   for  a  new  epoch  in 

IS 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

China.  He  was  converted  to  Christianity  when 
but  a  boy,  caught  the  spirit  of  reform,  and  began 
to  propagate  his  views  among  the  Chinese  stu- 
dents who  were  in  Japan,  America,  and  England. 
His  new  ideas  were  received  with  enthusiasm 
everywhere,  and  these  students  were  ready  on 
returning  to  China  to  identify  themselves  with 
the  revolutionary  forces  when  the  hour  came  for 
action.  In  an  important  sense  the  students 
changed  China  to  a  republic. 

Washington  and  American  Revolution 

The  Chinese  have  been  studying  earnestly  the 
life  of  George  Washington  and  the  history  of  the 
American  Revolution.  It  was  a  constant  sur- 
prise to  me  to  see  the  great  influence  of  Wash- 
ington in  China.  Years  ago,  in  the  public 
schools  of  Pennsylvania,  we  used  to  read  the 
following  from  Edward  Everett  of  the  far- 
reaching  influence  of  Washington :  "Beyond 
Ohio,  beyond  the  Mississippi,  along  that  stupen- 
dous trail  of  emigration  from  East  to  West, 
which,  bursting  into  States  as  it  moves  westward, 
the  name  and  memory  of  Washington  will  travel 
with  the  silver  queen  of  heaven  through  sixty 
degrees  of  longitude,  nor  part  company  with  her 
till  she  walks  in  her  brightness  through  the 
Golden  Gate.  And  in  barbarous  archipelagoes, 
as  yet  untrodden  by  civilized  man,  there,  and 
there  only,  the  name  of  Washington  is  unknown ; 
and  there,  too,  when  they  swarm  with  enlightened 

16 


Ward,    Howard,    and    Oldt    Locating   on   the    Map    Our 
Responsibility  in   South   China. 


Parade    Celebrating   the   Closing   of   the   Gambling   Dens,    Canton. 


New  China 

millions,  new  honors  with  ours  shall  be  paid  to 
his  memory." 

I  saw  this  prophecy  fulfilled  in  the  Hawaiian 
Islands,  in  Japan,  and  in  the  Philippines,  and  in 
a  most  unexpected  manner  in  China.  As  the 
revolution  swept  the  Manchus  from  South  China, 
prominent  Chinese  remarked,  "George  Washing- 
ton did  it."  Many  say  that  no  one  in  new  China 
should  vote  who  is  not  acquainted  with  the  life 
of  George  Washington.  I  was  informed  that 
four  characters  were  recently  presented  in  a 
reader  for  the  public  schools  in  central  China, 
and  these  were  Washington,  Lincoln,  Roosevelt, 
and  Confucius. 

The  Chinese  newspapers  backed  up  strongly 
the  fight  for  liberty  and  made  good  use  of  the 
American  revolution,  as  the  following  paragraph 
from  a  Shanghai  paper,  printed  after  a  tempor- 
ary defeat,  will  illustrate: 

"If  we  have  successes,  we  must  also  have  de- 
feats. Now,  unfortunately,  we  have  the  news 
of  defeat  at  Hanyang.  What  we  have  lost  is 
only  a  corner.  The  New  World  fought  seven 
years  of  bloody  warfare  before  it  won  its  inde- 
pendence. The  Colonists  were  often  defeated 
and  often  victorious  before  they  cast  off  the 
yoke  of  Britain  and  set  up  the  imposing  republic 
which  has  become  one  of  the  great  powers  in 
the  world.  Now  their  people  enjoy  the  blessing 
of  equality  and  breathe  the  air  of  liberty.  This 
was  won  for  them  by  the  blood  and  iron  of  their 

17 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

ancestors.  Had  the  Americans  lost  heart  be- 
cause of  repeated  defeats  during  their  bloody 
seven  years'  struggle,  and  gone  about  hanging 
down  their  heads  and  begging  for  peace,  or  had 
they  held  back  and  refused  to  advance,  would 
they  to-day  be  in  the  glorious  position  in  which 
they  find  themselves?  The  heroic  quality  of 
their  stubborn  strength  leads  us  to  honor  and 
bow  down  to  them.  Now,  we  are  fighting  for 
liberty,  for  a  republic.  We  wish  to  be  reckoned 
among  the  great  powers  of  the  earth.  We  refuse 
to  be  cattle  or  slaves." 

Christian  Counselors  Save  China. 

The  integrity  of  China  was  in  the  balances  for 
several  weeks,  as  the  conflict  between  Peking  and 
the  South  became  more  and  more  acute.  A  dis- 
tressing famine  and  reports  of  robber  bands, 
plundering,  and  stealing,  made  the  situation 
more  complex  and  difficult.  Then  Russia  be- 
came aggressive  and  took  steps  to  get  control 
of  Mongolia  under  the  pretext  of  maintaining 
order.  At  the  same  time  Japan  increased  her 
force  of  soldiers  in  Manchuria. 

The  Christian  statesmen  saw  the  situation  was 
of  such  a  character  as  would  certainly  lead  to 
the  intervention  of  the  powers  and  the  partition 
of  China  unless  vigorous  and  prompt  action  were 
taken  at  Peking.  It  was  very  fortunate  for 
China  that  she  had  in  her  midst  such  men  as 
Bishop  Bash  ford,  Mr.  E.  W.  Thwing,  General 

18 


New  China 

Secretary  of  the  International  Reform  Bureau 
of  China,  and  Dr.  Gilbert  Reid,  Director  of  the 
International  Institute,  which  has  been  recog- 
nized by  the  Chinese  government.  These  men 
and  others  were  consulted  by  the  leaders  on  both 
sides.  Bishop  Bashford  assured  the  authorities 
that  the  uprising  was  from  God  and  could  not  be 
put  down.  lie  urged  the  leaders  on  both  sides 
to  get  together  and  prevent  the  powers  from 
dividing  up  China. 

Mr.  Thwing  sent  the  following  telegram  to  the 
Empress  Dowager  and  the  princes  at  Peking: 
"I  have  resided  in  China  for  many  years  and 
have  hoped  for  China  to  reform  and  become  rich 
and  powerful.  I  have  gone  down  south  and  am 
acquainted  with  the  desires  of  the  people  of  the 
southern  provinces,  who  wish  to  accord  favor- 
able treatment  to  the  imperial  house  and  change 
to  a  republic.  I  am  on  good  terms  with  both 
the  Chinese  and  the  Manchus,  and  cannot  bear 
to  sit  as  I  watch  them  destroy  themselves,  so 
that,  as  in  the  struggle  between  the  shellfish  and 
the  eagle  down  in  tradition,  the  fisherman  was 
able  to  capture  both.  I  hope  that  China  will 
soon  confer  the  blessing  of  a  republic  on  the 
people,  so  that  not  only  destruction  of  lives  may 
be  obviated,  but  that  no  opportunity  be  given  to 
other  countries  to  take  advantage  of  the  situa- 
tion." 

Dr.  Gilbert  Reid  visited  in  person  the  officials 
at  Peking  and  presented  strong  reasons  for  the 

19 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

throne  to  abdicate  speedily.  No  one  who  knows 
the  inner  situation  can  doubt  the  power  of  these 
Christian  statesmen  in  that  hour  of  crisis. 

From  Old  to  New. 

Our  Chinese  Annual  Conference  was  just  com- 
ing to  a  close  in  Canton  when  telegrams  an- 
nounced the  fact  that  the  emperor  of  China  was 
about  to  abdicate  the  throne.  I  took  out  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  and  placed  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  alongside  the  flag  of  the  new 
Republic  of  China.  You  ought  to  have  seen  the 
faces  of  our  Chinese  Christians  sparkle  with  en- 
thusiasm as  I  waved  these  two  flags  together 
and  congratulated  every  Chinaman  present  on  the 
privilege  of  living  at  such  a  time  as  this,  when 
God  is  doing  wonders  in  China  for  the  bringing 
in  of  his  kingdom. 

On  February  12,  the  edicts  announcing  the 
imperial  abdication  were  signed,  and  Dr.  Sun 
Yat  Sen,  to  unite  the  whole  country,  resigned 
as  Provisional  President  in  favor  of  Premier 
Yuan  Shih  Kai,  an  act  that  will  forever  enshrine 
him  not  only  in  the  hearts  of  the  millions  of 
China,  but  of  the  whole  civilized  world.  After 
numerous  conferences,  the  National  Assembly 
accepted  Doctor  Sun's  resignation  and  elected 
Yuan  Shih  Kai  president  of  the  Republic  of 
China,  and  adopted  a  provisional  constitution 
which  contains  fifty-six  articles,  the  fifth  and 
sixth  of  which  state :   "The  people  of  the  Repub- 

20 


New  China 

lie  of  China  will  be  treated  equally,  without  any 
distinction  of  race,  class,  or  religion.  The  people 
have  liberty  of  religion." 

On  March  10,  President  Yuan  Shih  Kai  took 
the  following  oath :  "I  shall  endeavor  faithfully 
to  develop  the  Republic,  to  sweep  away  the  dis- 
advantages attached  to  absolute  monarchy,  to 
observe  the  laws  of  the  constitution,  to  increase 
the  welfare  of  the  country,  to  cement  together 
a  strong  nation  which  shall  embrace  all  five  races. 
When  the  National  Assembly  elects  a  permanent 
president,  I  shall  retire.  This  I  swear  before 
the  Chinese  Republic." 

President  Yuan  Shih  Kai,  while  not  a  profes- 
sing Christian,  has  made  it  known  that,  so  far  as 
he  understands  the  principles  of  Christianity,  they 
are  what  he  is  striving  for  in  the  new  govern- 
ment. He  has  requested  the  Protestant  Chris- 
tians to  pass  on  the  word  of  religious  liberty 
everywhere. 

The  Washington  of  China 

The  one  supremely  interesting  and  great  char- 
acter the  revolution  of  China  has  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  world  is  that  of  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen. 
Pie  has  become  widely  known  as  the  "George 
Washington  of  the  Republic  of  China." 

Mr.  Sun  was  born  near  Canton,  China,  the  son 
of  a  farmer.  While  young  in  years  he  imbibed 
the  revolutionary  spirit  from  the  example  and 
teaching  of  an  uncle  who  had  taken  part  in  the 

21 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

Taiping  rebellion,  which  sought  to  free  China 
from  the  Manchus  some  fifty  years  ago.  When 
about  fourteen  years  of  age  he  accepted  Christ 
as  his  Savior.  By  embracing  Christianity,  Mr. 
Sun  brought  on  himself  the  disfavor  of  his 
brother,  who  did  everything  possible  to  get  him 
to  renounce  the  Christian  faith.  But  no  perse- 
cution or  persuasion  on  the  part  of  his  friends 
could  turn  him  aside.  He  told  his  brother,  "I 
have  an  inner  confidence  in  this  faith,  and  I  can- 
not give  it  up."  He  studied  local  and  provincial 
politics,  and  early  became  a  recognized  leader  in 
his  village  council,  and  there  he  worked  out  num- 
erous reforms  for  his  own  community.  He  stud- 
ied in  the  mission  schools  at  Hongkong  and  Can- 
ton and  became  a  graduate  in  medicine. 
Called  to  Deliver  China 
About  twenty  years  ago  Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen  be- 
came deeply  convinced  that  God  had  called  him 
to  work  out  for  China  a  great  transformation. 
The  discovery  of  a  plan  of  his  to  capture  Canton 
compelled  him  to  leave  China,  and  for  years  he 
was  a  wanderer  in  Europe  and  in  the  United 
States,  with  a  high  price  on  his  head.  His  faith, 
his  perseverance,  and  his  far-sighted  planning 
during  these  years  seem  marvelous.  Of  his 
darkest  hour,  while  a  prisoner  in  the  Chinese 
legation  in  London,  he  says :  "My  despair  was 
complete,  and  only  by  prayer  to  God  could  I 
gain  any  comfort.  I  shall  never  forget  the  feel- 
ing that  seemed  to  take  possession  of  me  as  I 
22 


New  China 

rose  from  my  knees  on  the  morning  of  Friday, 
October  16,  1897,  a  feeling  of  calmness,  hopeful- 
ness, and  confidence  that  assured  me  my  prayer 
was  heard,  and  filled  me  with  hope  that  all  would 
yet  be  well." 

In  the  midst  of  the  conflict  for  liberty  in  China, 
Doctor  Sun  returned  to  his  native  land,  and  he 
was  elected  at  once  the  first  president  of  the  new 
Republic  of  China.  A  few  months  later,  the 
sterling  greatness  of  this  man  was  shown  in  his 
self-denying  act  of  retiring  from  the  presidency 
in  order  to  bring  the  North  and  the  South  to- 
gether. 

Dr.  Sun  Yat  Sen  made  a  remarkable  speech 
at  a  farewell  banquet  given  him  after  his  resig- 
nation as  president.  He  said :  "The  republic  is 
established  in  China  and,  though  I  am  laying 
down  the  office  of  provisional  president,  this  does 
not  mean  that  I  am  going  to  cease  to  work  for 
the  cause.  China  has  been  under  the  domination 
of  the  Manchus  for  two  hundred  and  seventy 
years.  During  that  time  many  attempts  have 
been  made  to  regain  independence.  Fifty  years 
ago  the  Taiping  rebellion  was  such  an  attempt, 
but  that  was  merely  a  revolution  of  the  race, 
the  Chinese  against  the  Manchus.  Had  that 
uprising  been  successful,  the  country  would  still 
have  been  under  an  autocratic  government.  This 
would  not  count  success.  Some  years  ago  a  few 
of  us  in  Japan  founded  the  Revolutionary  Society. 
We  decided  on  three  great  principles:  1,  The 
23 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

Chinese  people  to  be  supreme  as  a  race,  and  not 
to  be  under  the  domination  of  an  alien  race.  2. 
The  people  to  be  supreme  in  government.  3. 
The  people  to  be  supreme  in  the  wealth  produc- 
tion." 

Since  he  resigned  the  presidency,  Doctor  Sun 
has  been  going  to  the  provinces  that  have  been 
unsettled  and  explaining  the  meaning  and  signifi- 
cance of  the  new  republic.  No  one  else  in  all 
the  world  could  do  this  important  work  as  effec- 
tively as  he  is  doing  it. 

Reconstruction  a  Colossal  Task 

Without  living  in  the  midst  of  the  changing 
conditions  in  China,  it  is  impossible  to  conceive 
the  magnitude  of  the  task  that  now  confronts  the 
leaders  and  Christian  workers  of  the  new  repub- 
lic. Five  races,  namely,  the  Chinese,  the  Man- 
chus,  the  Mongolians,  the  Mohammedans,  and  the 
Tibetans,  are  to  be  combined  into  one  republic. 
The  superstition  and  corruption  of  the  officials 
have  been  appalling.  Local  and  provincial  jeal- 
ousies abound.  Lawless  bands  are  everywhere 
robbing  and  kidnaping.  Only  about  ten  per  cent, 
of  the  population  can  read  and  write.  The  gov- 
ernment is  wholly  without  the  necessary  money 
to  conduct  its  own  affairs,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
money  needed  to  start  a  school  system  that  will 
be  adequate. 

The  leaders  of  new  China  now  face  the  serious 
fact  that  "popular  government  is  not  in  itself  a 
24 


New  China 

panacea,  that  it  is  no  better  than  any  other  form, 
except  as  the  virtue  and  wisdom  of  the  people 
make  it  so." 

It  will  take  much  time  and  great  patience  and 
wisdom  for  the  new  republic  to  become  estab- 
lished. Following  the  American  Revolution  it 
required  six  years  to  frame  our  Constitution. 
Under  most  favorable  conditions  it  will  take 
China,  with  her  hundreds  of  millions  of  people 
and  her  complex  problems,  a  much  longer  period 
to  work  out  her  new  system  of  government. 

One  who  is  intimately  acquainted  with  the 
whole  situation,  writes :  "We  are  amazed  at  the 
unique  opportunities  of  the  new  epoch ;  we  are 
bewildered  by  the  unparalleled  responsibilities 
and  dangers.  If  ever  there  was  a  call  to  help  a 
nation  turn  a  corner  in  human  history,  America 
is  called  to  help  China  in  the  present  crisis." 
What  an  unspeakable  opportunity  is  before  the 
Christian  church  to  give  China  at  this  time  the 
truth  and  light  of  God,  which  must  be  incorpor- 
ated in  the  very  heart  of  the  republic  to  insure 
for  it  the  stability  and  wisdom  necessary  to  make 
the  experiment  of  self-government  a  blessing 
rather  than  a  curse. 

Power  of  Christian  Missions 

The  revolution  in  China  is  a  declaration  of  the 
power  of  Christian  missions  and  of  Christian 
ideals.  The  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  has  been 
slowly    but     surely     transforming    the     nation. 

25 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

Chinese  leaders  are  now  beginning  to  see  the 
power  of  the  gospel.  The  Governor-General  of 
the  Fukien  Province  said  recently,  "The  present 
great  upheaval  is  due  to  the  missionaries  who 
faced  the  perils  of  the  sea  and  the  pains  of 
separation  from  home  and  homeland  to  bring 
to  us  the  teachings  of  Christ." 

Against  stubborn  opposition  and  martyrdom 
the  gospel  has  been  getting  a  deepening  grip  on 
China.  In  1842,  after  the  missionaries  had  been 
at  work  for  thirty-five  years,  there  were  but  six 
communicant  members  in  the  Protestant  Church 
in  China.  Some  of  the  workers  on  the  field  at 
that  time  expressed  the  conviction  that  if  the 
work  could  be  carried  forward  faithfully  there 
would  be  a  thousand  converts  at  the  end  of  the 
century.  But,  thank  God,  history  has  recorded 
the  fact  that  there  were  one  hundred  thousand 
converts  in  China  in  1900,  and  at  present  there 
are  278,628  communicant  members  and  a  Chris- 
tian constituency  of  750,000. 

Faithful  Unto  Death 

The  persecutions  through  which  the  Chinese 
Christians  passed  during  the  Boxer  uprising  re- 
vealed their  faith  in  God  and  their  loyalty  to  the 
truth  when  once  they  accept  the  gospel.  "I 
recall,"  says  Bishop  Bashford,  who  has  spent  the 
last  eight  years  in  China,  "the  case  of  a  pastor, 
wife,  son,  and  daughter,  whose  lives  the  Chinese 
offered  them  if  they  would  simply  step  upon  a 
26 


New  China 

piece  of  paper  with  the  name  of  Jesus  written 
upon  it;  they  refused  and  died  as  martyrs.  At 
Chien  An  one  hundred  and  twelve  school  bovs 
were  cut  to  pieces  or  burned  and  the  local 
preacher  was  bound  to  a  temple  pillar.  As  he 
continued  preaching,  a  Boxer  cried,  'You  still 
preach,  do  you?'  and  slit  his  mouth  from  ear  to 
ear.  Another  church  member  was  buried  alive. 
Ten  thousand  Protestant  Christians  are  said  to 
have  suffered  martyrdom.  A  nation  which  fur- 
nishes such  specimens  has  in  it  the  material  out 
of  which  republics  are  formed." 

A  New  Program. 

It  is  felt  on  all  sides  that  mission  work  in 
China  must  be  unified,  intensified,  and  greatly 
enlarged  to  meet  the  new  situation.  Important 
interdenominational  councils  will  be  held  during 
this  fall  and  winter  with  such  leaders  as  John  R. 
Mott  and  Sherwood  Eddy.  A  new  program  for 
the  evangelization  of  the  great  republic  will  be 
agreed  upon. 

Without  any  question,  educated  men  will  be 
the  leaders  in  every  walk  of  life.  The  question 
of  first  importance  is,  Shall  that  leadership  have 
Christian  or  pagan  training?  That  question  will 
be  settled  largely  by  what  the  Christian  church 
does  or  fails  to  do  the  next  ten  years. 

China  cannot  have  colleges  which  give  Western 
education  until  she  has  high  schools,  and  the 
grammar  and  primary  grades  must  come  before 

27 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

the  high  school.  Hence,  China  must  begin  at 
the  beginning,  and  there  will  be  an  unprecedented 
call  for  teachers.  Think  of  the  task  of  develop- 
ing an  adequate  school  system  out  of  the  chaotic 
conditions  existing  among  the  four  hundred  mil- 
lions in  China !  The  opportunity  of  ages  is  right 
now  upon  the  Christian  church  to  establish  in 
China  an  adequate  number  of  Christian  middle 
or  high  schools,  colleges,  universities,  and  theo- 
logical seminaries,  and  thus  provide  Christian 
teachers  and  Christian  pastors  for  new  China. 

The  situation  is  so  extraordinary  as  to  make 
one  restless.  It  is  to  the  Christian  schools  al- 
ready established  that  the  government  is  now 
looking  for  her  leading  educators.  Professor 
Chung,  of  the  Canton  Christian  College,  was  ap- 
pointed recently  as  Commissioner  of  Education 
for  the  entire  Province  of  Kwantung,  where  there 
are  thirty-one  million  people,  in  the  center  of 
which  is  the  city  of  Canton  with  a  population  of 
two  millions.  This  is  but  an  illustration  of  the 
opportunity  before  the  Christian  church  and  the 
Christian  schools  in  China. 

United  Brethren  Work  and  Workers 

In  order  to  make  thorough  investigations  of 
mission  work  in  China  and  the  Philippines,  I 
requested  Dr.  A.  T.  Howard,  who  has  had  many 
years  of  experience  in  Japan,  to  accompany  me 
to  these  fields.  Though  China  was  in  the  midst 
of   a   mighty   war,   we    found   our  missionaries 

28 


New  China 

calm  and  busy  at  work  right  through  the  transi- 
tion period.  In  all  the  port  cities  missionaries 
from  up  country  were  assembled  in  council  and 
prayer,  planning  for  the  work  ahead.  It  was  a 
most  favorable  time  to  have  interdenominational 
councils.  Everybody  seemed  to  be  conscious 
that  a  new  era  was  at  hand.  It  was  a  never- 
to-be-forgotten  experience  to  meet  for  the  first 
time  our  beloved  missionaries  in  China  during  a 
national  crisis. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  C.  E.  Spore  had  made  thorough 
preparations  for  our  visit.  They  looked  after 
every  detail  to  make  the  councils  and  tours  of 
investigation  yield  the  best  possible  results.  We 
first  visited  and  inspected  our  work  at  the  Beth 
Eden  Compound,  including  the  Miller  Seminary, 
which  had  been  in  session  right  through  the  revo- 
lution, with  the  exception  of  a  few  days.  We 
heard  from  many  sources  of  the  power  and 
initiative  of  Miss  Belle  Myers,  who  has  done 
such  splendid  work  in  developing  the  Miller  Sem- 
inary. Miss  Mabel  Drury  has  made  marked 
progress  in  the  mastery  of  the  Chinese  language, 
and  already  has  become  a  strong  factor  in  mis- 
sion work  in  Canton. 

We  visited  our  excellent  mission  church  and 
Sunday  school  on  Honam,  and  heard  the  Chinese 
pastor  preach  an  able  sermon  on  the  text:  "If 
any  man  be  in  Christ,  he  is  a  new  creature;  old 
things  are  passed  away." 

29 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

The  preacher  began  his  sermon  by  saying: 
"My  text  is  appropriate  for  this  time.  China 
has  just  become  a  new  republic.  We  are  turning 
from  many  old  things  to  things  that  are  new. 
Moreover,  a  new  calendar  has  just  been  adopted 
in  which  China  reckons  the  new  year  to  begin 
with  January  first,  and  this  is  the  first  Sunday  in 
the  new  year."  Then,  sweeping  his  hand  back 
over  his  queueless  head,  he  declared,  "And  now 
we  are  all  citizens  of  this  new  country."  Then 
he  urged  his  audience  to  find  new  life  in  Jesus 
Christ  that  they  might  become  "new  creatures." 
The  sermon  was  most  appropriate  and  powerful. 

We  visited  our  splendid  Foundling  Home  in 
Canton,  the  first  of  its  kind  in  all  South  China, 
and  formally  dedicated  the  new  building  January 
13.  The  power  of  this  orphanage  cannot  be  reck- 
oned by  the  number  of  outcasts  it  can  now  take 
care  of  and  transform,  but  rather  by  its  standing 
as  an  example  of  what  must  and  will  be  done 
on  a  vastly  larger  scale  by  the  awakened  Chinese 
themselves.  In  that  better  day,  which  is  now 
dawning,  this  Foundling  Home,  started  by  the 
women  of  the  United  Brethren  Church  in  Amer- 
ica, will  be  remembered  as  the  first  work  of  its 
kind  in  South  China  for  the  "survival  of  the 
unfittest."  In  the  construction  of  this  orphanage 
and  the  missionary  residence  near  by,  Mr.  B.  F. 
Bean  has  shown  himself  to  be  a  master  builder, 
whose  services  will  be  greatly  in  demand  in  the 
30 


New  China 

years  to  come.  Mrs.  Bean  is  recognized  as  an 
expert  and  pioneer  in  orphanage  work. 

Our  medical  work  in  Canton,  directed  by  Dr. 
Regina  M.  Bigler,  has  had  a  powerful  influence. 
We  found  Doctor  Bigler  going  about  at  all  hours 
of  the  day  and  night,  ministering  to  the  sick  and 
dying  right  through  the  revolution.  The  regular 
dispensary  work  was  carried  forward  notwith- 
standing the  unsettled  condition  of  affairs.  I 
attended  the  dispensary  one  day  when  Doctor 
Bigler  said  she  had  a  light  day — only  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-five  persons  were  waiting  to  be 
examined  and  treated !  Nineteen  thousand  per- 
sons are  ministered  to  annually  by  our  doctors 
in  China. 

So  widely  and  favorably  known  is  the  work  of 
Doctor  Bigler  that  messengers  come  frequently 
for  her  services  through  three  miles  of  tortu- 
ous, narrow  streets,  and  they  come  at  all  hours 
of  the  day  and  night.  The  doctor  responds  will- 
ingly at  all  times,  and  she  frequently  crosses  the 
entire  city  during  the  night  when  the  only  light 
to  guide  her  is  the  little  wax  candles  in  the  paper 
lanterns  suspended  from  her  sedan  chair. 

Visit  to  Country  Places 

Though  country  districts  were  much  disturbed 
by  robber  bands  and  clan  fights,  we  made  a  hasty 
visit  to  Kwai  Chau,  Lak  Lau,  and  Siu  Lam,  and 
found  that  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Frank  Oldt  had  been 
at  their  post  of  duty  at  Siu  Lam  when  the  revo- 

31 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

lutionary  forces,  led  by  a  robber  chief,  captured 
the  city,  the  first  place  taken  in  South  China. 
No  one  can  know,  without  a  similar  experience, 
the  test  and  strain  that  came  to  these  missionaries 
when  the  rumors  of  war  were  heard  on  all  sides, 
and  then  when  the  actual  conflict  came  and  the 
city  was  taken  by  the  revolutionary  forces ;  but 
God  wonderfully  protected  them. 

While  in  Siu  Lam  we  witnessed  a  most  inter- 
esting Christmas  exercise  in  our  mission  chapel, 
which  seats  comfortably  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  persons ;  but  fully  four  hundred  packed  the 
building  that  day,  and  as  many  more  stood  about 
the  doors  and  windows.  This  was  one  of  the 
first  public  meetings  held  after  the  revolutionary 
forces  were  in  control.  An  hour  before  the  time 
for  the  meeting  all  seats  were  filled ;  then  they 
began  to  pack  the  place.  They  stood  between 
the  benches,  on  the  seats,  then  on  the  backs  of 
seats,  and  in  the  aisles — a  solid  mass  right  up  to 
the  pulpit.  In  the  midst  of  this  throng  were 
revolutionary  soldiers  carrying  their  guns ;  from 
the  pulpit  the  whole  assemblage  seemed  a  sea  of 
faces,  and  such  wild,  superstitious,  sad  faces !  I 
wanted  to  take  a  photograph  of  the  meeting,  but 
the  missionaries  informed  me  that  to  turn  a 
kodak  on  that  assemblage  would  produce  forth- 
with a  panic  and  the  loss  of  life.  I  shall  carry 
the  impression  of  that  audience  as  long  as  I  live. 
The  contrast  was  most  striking  between  our 
Christian  workers  and  that  vast  crowd,  many  of 

32 


One    of    China's    Idols. 

From   a  temple   near  the   Canton    Christian    College   this   idol 

was   taken   to   be  burnt   later. 


The  Ancient  Wall  of  Canton  Disappearing. 


Beth  Eden   Compound,    Canton. 


Bed  Time  at  the  Foundling  Home. 


Doctor   Oldt   Removing  a   Polypus. 


New  China 

whom,  doubtless,  heard  that  day  for  the  first 
time  the  story  of  Christ's  coming  into  the  world. 

The  city  of  Siu  Lam  and  vicinity  has  a  popula- 
tion of  five  hundred  thousand,  and  it  affords  a 
most  excellent  opportunity  for  Christian  work. 
Here  Rev.  and  Mrs.  E.  B.  Ward  wrought  might- 
ily for  God  through  a  number  of  years,  and  the 
influence  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Shumaker's  early  work 
still  lives.  We  should  have  had  two  missionary 
families  instead  of  one  at  this  place  ever  since 
the  work  was  opened.  The  leading  citizens  are 
favorable  to  Christianity.  Many  of  the  people 
are  talented,  and  will  make  splendid  leaders  in 
Christian  work  in  South  China  when  won  to 
Christ  and  trained  for  service. 

While  in  Siu  Lam  we  visited  three  different 
sites  with  a  view  to  securing  the  best  available 
location  for  our  new  hospital.  This  will  be 
erected  as  soon  as  the  unsettled  condition  caused 
by  the  revolution  permits  the  business  men  of  the 
town  to  secure  legal  papers  for  the  ground.  It 
is  evident  that  Siu  Lam  is  destined  to  be  a  center 
of  mighty  power  in  our  mission  work  in  South 
China. 

On  the  return  visit  to  China  from  the  Philip- 
pines, we  took  an  extended  tour  up  the  West 
River  to  see  new  territory  as  yet  unoccupied  by 
Christian  workers.  The  center  of  the  new  dis- 
trict that  falls  to  us  is  Kum  Chuk.  I  shall  never 
forget  the  impression  that  came  to  me  as  we 
climbed  the  hill  back  of  this  city  and  took  a  bird's- 
33 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

eye  view  of  the  immense  population  up  the  river 
and  in  territory  adjacent  on  the  east.  With  my 
eye,  unaided  by  a  glass,  I  counted  eighteen  towns 
in  not  one  of  which  is  the  gospel  preached.  Here 
in  this  territory  are  a  million  people  without 
medical  assi:  t:  nee,  without  the  Word  of  God,  and 
without  a  messenger  of  Christ  to  point  them  to 
the  Lamb  of  God.  This  ripe  field  falls  to  our 
Church  to  evangelize. 

Councils  of  War 

During  the  month's  visit  in  China  we  had  many 
interviews  with  mission  workers  of  other  com- 
munions, visiting  and  inspecting  their  several 
departments  of  work,  and  conferring  about  the 
cooperation  which  is  needed  to  make  the  church 
in  China  strong  enough  and  sufficiently  equipped 
to  meet  the  extraordinary  situation  before  it. 

Fourteen  days  were  given  to  counseling  with 
our  missionaries  and  mapping  out  the  work  that 
our  Church  should  undertake  as  its  reasonable 
share  in  the  evangelization  of  China. 

The  China  Annual  Conference  was  held  from 
January  12  to  16.  As  a  result  of  the  new  aims 
adopted  at  the  Annual  Conference  and  the  inspi- 
ration received  for  enlarged  work,  the  mission- 
aries declared  that  they  never  before  had  known 
the  Chinese  pastors  and  laymen  to  be  as  ready 
as  at  this  time  to  dedicate  their  lives  and  their 
property  to  make  the  church  of  Christ  powerful 
in  China. 

34 


New  China 

Team  Work  Planned 

It  was  an  unexpected  privilege  to  be  in  China 
during  her  transition  from  the  old  to  the  new,  and 
witness  the  stirring  scenes  in  connection  with  the 
new  epoch  that  is  dawning.  After  wide  consul- 
tation it  became  clear  that  all  the  missionary 
societies  at  work  in  China  should  closely  coor- 
dinate their  work.  A  system  of  primary,  gram- 
mar, and  middle  schools  leading  up  to  college  and 
seminary  work  should  be  speedily  established. 
Only  in  this  way  can  a  sufficient  supply  of  min- 
isterial and  lay  leaders  be  raised  up  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  both  church  and  state  at  this 
crucial  time. 

After  thorough  investigation,  the  missionaries 
on  the  field  in  connection  with  the  secretary 
voted  unanimously  the  following:  1.  That  we 
strengthen  the  number  of  our  day  schools  for 
boys  and  girls  of  the  primary  grade.  2.  That  the 
present  boys'  grammar  school  be  enlarged  and 
enriched  in  its  course  of  study,  and  that  to  pro- 
vide for  its  needs  a  suitable  lot  and  building  be 
secured  as  soon  as  possible.  3.  That  we  co- 
operate with  the  Canton  Christian  College  in  the 
middle  school,  of  high-school  grade,  and  with  the 
Fati  Theological  Seminary  at  Canton  in  the  train- 
ing of  young  men  for  the  Christian  ministry, 
placing  a  suitable  representative  on  the  faculty 
of  each  of  these  institutions  as  soon  as  possible. 
The  Canadian  Presbyterian  and  the  New  Zealand 
Presbyterian    Missions   are   already    cooperating 

35 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

with  the  Fati  Theological  Seminary.  Tne  Can- 
ton Christian  College  is  interdenominatirnal  and 
has  a  recognized  standard  of  efficiency  in  all 
parts  of  China  Jt  will  be  able  to  carry  the 
students  not  only  through  the  midd'e  school,  but 
also  through  the  college  courses  as  the  work 
develops. 

A  Medical  University 

The  need  for  medical  missionaries  in  China  is 
extremely  great.  In  no  other  field  on  eartn  can 
a  Christian  physician  do  a  greater  work  for  God 
and  humanity.  Through  the  work  of  medical 
missionaries  there  is  now  a  large  demand  in 
China  for  doctors  trained  in  Western  medicine. 
Unless  medical  schools  of  first-class  standing  are 
established  on  a  Christian  basis,  this  work  will 
be  undertaken  soon  by  private  corporations  or  by 
the  government,  and  will  be  done  on  a  much 
lower  and  non-Christian  basis,  if  not  anti-Chris- 
tian. The  character  of  the  doctors  of  China  for 
many  years  to  come  will  be  determined  within 
the  next  few  years.  The  revolution  has  made 
the  situation  more  urgent. 

To  provide  for  this  great  need  the  medical 
school,  in  connection  with  the  Canton  Christian 
College,  is  asking  the  various  missions  in  South 
China  to  cooperate  with  it  in  establishing  a  Uni- 
versity Union  Medical  School.  The  object  is  to 
give  thorough  instruction  in  medicine  and  sur- 
gery to  the  Chinese  in  the  English  and  Cantonese 

36 


New  China 

languages,  and  thereby  provide  mission  hospitals 
with  well-trained  physicians;  train  Chinese  for 
positions  as  teachers  in  this  and  other  medical 
schools ;  assist  in  providing  the  Chinese  Republic 
with  a  Christian  medical  profession ;  take  an  ac- 
tive share  in  the  investigation  of  the  causes,  pre- 
vention, and  treatment  of  diseases  peculiar  to 
China;  and  extend  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel 
of  Jesus  Christ  to  the  ninety  millions  of  people 
of  South  China  coming  within  the  sphere  of 
influence  of  this  school. 

Our  missionaries  heartily  recommend  that  we 
cooperate  with  this  proposed  medical  university 
by  assigning  a  man  to  teach  in  this  school,  as 
soon  as  our  medical  work  is  sufficiently  strength- 
ened to  enable  us  to  release  him  for  it. 

A  Greater  Miller  Seminary 

That  the  women  of  China  should  receive  Chris- 
tian education  as  well  as  the  men,  is  now  begin- 
ning to  be  recognized.  The  ignorance  among 
the  women  is  appalling.  It  is  said  that  ninety 
per  cent,  of  the  enrolled  members  of  the  Chris- 
tian church  in  China  are  men.  The  women  have 
been  utterly  neglected  and  overlooked.  While  it 
is  important  that  much  greater  emphasis  be  laid 
on  the  education  of  young  men  for  leadership,  a 
very  decided  movement  must  be  inaugurated  for 
the  education  and  Christianization  of  the  women 
of  China. 

37 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

Since  the  revolution,  our  Miller  Seminary  has 
been  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity,  and  many 
applicants  have  been  turned  away.  The  present 
enrollment  is  sixty-six,  the  largest  in  its  history. 
Because  of  unsanitary  conditions  and  the  want  of 
sufficient  land  adjacent,  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  relocate  this  school.  A  year  ago  our  board 
recommended  that  our  entire  compound  at  Beth 
Eden  be  sold  and  that  we  secure  suitable  locations 
elsewhere  for  the  Miller  Seminary  and  the  nec- 
essary missionary  residences. 

During  our  visit  to  Canton,  business  men  from 
Hongkong,  on  their  own  initiative,  interviewed  us 
with  a  view  to  purchasing  this  valuable  property. 
Owing  to  unsettled  conditions,  it  may  be  some 
months,  or  even  years,  before  a  satisfactory  sale 
can  be  made ;  but  steps  should  be  taken  at  once 
for  the  relocation  of  the  Miller  Seminary  and 
the  erection  of  modern  buildings,  in  which  a 
vastly  greater  work  must  be  done  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  young  women  of  China. 

New  Buildings  and  Grounds 

We  sought  to  secure,  while  in  China,  a  definite 
statement  of  the  absolute  needs  of  our  mission 
for  chapels,  school  buildings,  missionary  resi- 
dences, and  dispensaries.  For  two  years  our 
missionaries  had  been  investigating  this  subject. 
After  the  approval  of  the  program  on  education, 
just  stated,  the  missionaries  voted  unanimously 
the  following: 

38 


New  China 

1.  A  new  chapel  and  dispensary  building  com- 
bined for  our  First  Church,  Canton.  Present 
communicant  membership,  151.  The  present 
building  is  dilapidated,  and  is  in  danger  of  col- 
lapsing. This  church  is  in  a  center  of  200,000 
population.  The  dispensary  facilities  connected 
with  the  present  building  are  utterly  inadequate. 

2.  Ground  and  residences  for  evangelistic  and 
medical  workers  in  Canton,  when  the  Beth  Eden 
compound  is  sold. 

3.  Ground  and  building  for  our  grammar 
school  in  Canton.  The  school  is  but  two  years 
old.  Since  the  revolution  it  has  entirely  out- 
grown its  rented  quarters.  This  school  will  be- 
come a  powerful  factor  in  our  China  mission. 

4.  At  Siu  Lam  we  have  a  church  membership 
of  ninety-eight,  with  a  constituency  of  five  hun- 
dred thousand.  The  city  authorities  are  seeking 
for  a  site  for  our  new  hospital.  We  need  at  once 
a  residence  for  the  physician  who  will  have 
charge  of  the  hospital. 

5.  A  new  mission  station  is  to  be  opened  at 
Kum  Chuk  in  the  Lak  Lau  District,  where  a  mil- 
lion people  are  without  any  gospel  privileges. 
Two  missionary  families,  a  medical  man  and 
wife,  and  an  evangelistic  missionary  and  wife 
are  to  start  this  work.  Missionary  residences 
should  be  provided  before  these  missionaries  are 
on  the  ground,  for  it  will  be  impossible  for 
American  missionaries  to  find  suitable  quarters 
in  that  district. 

39 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

6.  Grounds  and  buildings  for  the  greater  Mil- 
ler Seminary.  This  is  an  urgent  and  pressing 
need. 

7.  A  residence  for  the  middle  school  represen- 
tative on  the  faculty  of  the  Canton  Christian 
College. 

8.  A  residence  for  our  representative  on  the 
faculty  of  the  proposed  union  medical  university. 

The  total  amount  needed  for  the  grounds, 
buildings,  and  equipment  here  named  will  be 
$81,000.  We  already  have  on  hand  for  the  relo- 
cation of  the  Miller  Seminary  five  thousand  dol- 
lars. The  amount  needed  for  buildings  and 
equipment  aggregates  $76,000. 

Missionaries  Needed 

After  a  careful  survey,  of  the  entire  field,  the 
following  are  the  missionaries  necessary  to  direct 
the  work : 

For  Evangelistic  Work— Three  men  and  wives, 
one  single  woman  for  country  work,  and  one 
single  woman  for  work  in  Canton.     Total,  eight. 

For  Educational  Work — A  man  and  wife  to 
teach  in  the  Middle  School  and  direct  the  work 
of  the  boys'  school,  a  man  and  wife  for  the  Fati 
Union  Seminary,  two  women  for  the  Miller  Sem- 
inary.     Total,  six. 

For  Medical  Work — A  man  and  wife  in  charge 
of  the  hospital  at  Siu  Lam,  two  women  for  Can- 
ton, a  man  and  wife  for  the  Lak  Lau  district,  a 
40 


New  China 

man  and  wife  for  the  proposed  medical  univer- 
sity at  Canton.     Total,  eight. 

For  Philanthropic  Work — A  man  and  wife  to 
have  charge  of  the  Foundling  Home. 

Total  missionary  force  needed,  twenty-four. 

Of  the  above  number,  eleven  are  on  the  field 
and  four  others  have  been  appointed  and  will 
sail  in  October.  We  need,  therefore,  nine  new 
missionaries  for  South  China,  as  follows :  Two 
medical  missionaries  and  their  wives,  two  single 
women  for  evangelistic  work,  a  missionary  fam- 
ily to  teach  in  the  middle  school  of  the  Canton 
Christian  College,  and  a  single  medical  mission- 
ary. Three  of  these,  namely,  a  physician  and 
his  wife  and  a  single  woman  for  evangelistic 
work  should  be  sent  out  immediately. 

Outstanding  Impressions 

The  following  are  the  outstanding  impressions 
of  my  contact  with  China: 

1.  The  Vast  Multitudes  of  People.  Every- 
where, on  the  rivers,  in  the  country  districts,  and 
in  cities,  great  throngs  of  people  are  seen.  It  is 
said  that  there  are  over  four  million  persons  in 
Canton  and  in  the  vicinity  less  than  ten  miles 
away.  China  contains  more  inhabitants  than  are 
found  in  the  United  States,  South  America,  Can- 
ada, and  Africa  combined.  Every  fourth  person 
born  on  earth  looks  into  the  face  of  a  Chinese 
mother.  The  population  of  China  aggregates 
four   hundred    and    thirty   millions.       But   these 

41 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

numbers  are  meaningless.  Imagine  half  the 
population  of  the  United  States  packed  into  the 
single  State  of  Missouri,  and  you  will  have  an 
idea  of  the  situation  in  China.  Let  ten  thousand 
Chinese  pass  by  every  day,  then  you  must  hear  the 
tramp,  tramp,  tramp  of  the  weary  throng  for 
one  hundred  years,  and  still  there  will  be  sixty- 
five  millions  yet  to  pass  in  the  procession. 

2.  Their  Extreme  Poverty.  The  average 
wage  for  the  laboring  man  in  China  is  but  eight 
cents  a  day.  Millions  have  not  one  meal  ahead. 
Hence,  great  famines  always  follow  floods.  Mul- 
titudes never  eat  meat,  save  possibly  the  head  or 
tail  of  a  fish,  or  part  of  a  dog,  cat,  or  rat.  The 
struggle  for  existence  is  most  intense. 

Professor  E.  A.  Ross,  of  the  University  of 
Wisconsin,  who  recently  toured  through  the  in- 
terior of  China,  thus  describes  the  poverty  and 
hardships  of  the  Chinese  laborers :  "Our  chair 
and  baggage  carriers  had  no  wraps  or  change 
of  clothing.  Eight  successive  days  of  rain 
brought  them  to  a  state  of  utter  misery.  After 
twelve  hours  of  splashing  and  slipping  up  and 
down  the  mountain  roads,  fording  swollen  tor- 
rents in  a  cold  drizzle,  under  a  weight  of  from 
seventy  to  ninety  pounds,  they  would  come  at 
evening  utterly  exhausted  to  a  cheerless,  com- 
fortless Chinese  inn — no  fire,  no  clothing,  save 
two  soaked  cotton  garments,  no  bed  and  no  blan- 
kets, and  for  supper  nothing  but  rice  and  bean 
curd." 

42 


New  China 

3.  Ignorance  and  Superstition.  Not  one  man 
in  ten  in  China,  nor  more  than  one  woman  in  a 
thousand,  can  read ;  and  those  who  have  been 
educated  according  to  the  Chinese  standard  have 
their  faces  to  the  past  and  their  backs  to  the 
future.  Hence,  the  stagnant  condition  of  the 
country.  The  Chinese  are  a  very  superstitious 
people.  Multitudes  live  in  constant  terror  of 
evil  spirits.  The  people  appear  to  be  wanting  in 
religious  conceptions  and  they  seem  spiritually 
dead. 

The  day  I  entered  Kum  Chuk,  the  center  of  a 
district  of  a  million,  to  which  territory  we  hope 
to  carry  the  gospel  soon,  I  saw  a  man  dying  on 
a  narrow,  filthy  street  of  the  city.  Hundreds  of 
Chinese  were  passing  by,  buying  and  selling,  but 
the  crowd  did  not  so  much  as  look  at  this 
wretched  man  in  his  last  agony.  It  was  neces- 
sary for  us  to  pass  on  quickly  or  our  presence 
might  have  incited  a  mob. 

Two  hours  later  when  we  returned  along  the 
same  street  the  man  was  dead.  I  asked  why  he 
had  been  carried  to  that  cold,  filthy  place  to  die, 
and  was  told  it  would  be  considered  a  calamity 
in  China  for  a  man  to  die  in  a  house  not  his 
own. 

Dead  bodies  are  put  into  coffins  and  sometimes 
are  kept  for  months  and  even  for  years  until  a 
geomancer  discovers  a  lucky  day  and  a  lucky 
place  for  the  interment.  A  missionary  who  has 
been  in  China  for  thirty  years  informed  me  that 

43 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

he  was  called  recently  to  bury  a  man  who  had 
been  dead  sixty  years.  He  asked  the  people  of 
the  town  how  many  inhabitants  were  living  in 
the  place,  and  was  told  there  were  twenty-five 
thousand.  Then  he  asked,  "How  many  unburied 
dead  bodies  are  here?"  They  told  him  eighteen 
thousand.  It  will  take  years  of  gospel  work  to 
break  the  power  of  superstition  in  China. 

4.  The  Strength  and  Initiative  of  the  Chinese. 
When  freed  from  the  bondage  of  superstition  the 
Chinese  have  shown  themselves  to  be  progressive 
and  trustworthy  to  a  remarkable  degree. 

They  have  graded  society,  as  follows :  "First, 
the  scholar,  because  mind  is  superior  to  wealth. 
Second,  the  farmer,  because  the  mind  cannot  act 
without  body  and  body  cannot  exist  without  food. 
Third,  the  mechanic,  because  next  to  food,  shel- 
ter is  a  necessity.  Fourth,  the  tradesman,  be- 
cause as  society  increases,  men  to  carry  on  ex- 
change and  barter  are  a  necessity.  Fifth,  the 
soldier  stands  last  and  lowest  in  the  list,  because 
his  business  is  to  destroy  and  not  to  build  up 
society." 

The  Chinese  who  have  been  trained  in  the  mis- 
sion schools  and  have  caught  the  inspiration  of 
civilization  are  proving  themselves  to  be  capable 
of  managing  business  affairs.  While  in  Shang- 
hai, I  had  the  privilege  of  visiting  the  Commer- 
cial Press,  Limited.  Fourteen  years  ago  this 
company  was  started  by  Christian  Chinese  who 
had  learned  the  printing  trade  while  employed  in 

44 


New  China 

the  Presbyterian  mission.  They  enlarged  their 
plant  from  time  to  time  until  at  present  they 
have  a  capital  of  one  million  dollars  and  employ 
eight  hundred  men.  They  have  branch  offices  in 
each  of  the  eighteen  provinces.  Their  business 
is  managed  on  the  cooperative  plan,  profits  being 
shared  with  their  employees.  This  printing  es- 
tablishment, started  under  the  inspiration  and 
direction  of  Christian  missions,  is  now  the  largest 
in  all  Asia.  It  illustrates  the  progressive  spirit 
of  the  Christian  young  men  of  China. 

Rapid  Reconstruction 

Within  three  months  after  the  revolution  had 
swept  over  South  China,  the  ancient  walls  about 
the  city  of  Canton  began  to  disappear  to  make 
way  for  a  modern  trolley  line.  Steamboats  will 
take  the  place  of  tread  boats  on  the  rivers  and  the 
wheel  barrows  will  soon  be  relics  of  the  past. 

A  recent  message  from  a  missionary  says : 
"The  soldiers  joined  by  the  common  people  vis- 
ited every  temple  and  nunnery  they  could  find. 
Idols  were  taken  down  and  stored  in  a  building 
to  be  destroyed  later.  The  priests  and  nuns  have 
had  no  support  from  the  people  since  the  revolu- 
tion broke  out." 

The  situation  in  China  reminds  one  of  the  man 
out  of  whom  the  unclean  spirit  had  gone,  de- 
scribed in  Matt.  12 :  43-45.  China  is  being  swept 
and  garnished,  but  unless  filled  and  controlled  by 
the   Word  and   Spirit  of   God  there  will  be   a 

45 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

pagan  reaction,  and  seven  other  spirits  more 
wicked  may  enter,  and  the  last  state  be  worse 
than  the  first. 

Christianity  has  not  faced  such  a  challenge  and 
opportunity  since  Pentecost.  To  have  a  share 
in  the  work  of  presenting  Jesus  Christ,  the 
world's  Redeemer,  to  China  at  this  time,  and  of 
laying  the  foundations  of  the  kingdom  of  God 
for  the  new  republic,  is  an  unspeakable  privilege. 


46 


II. 
•progrrBfiiuc  Japan 

\\  hen  our  ship  cast  anchor  at  Yokohama, 
Japan,  November  3,  at  three  a.m.,  the  stars  and 
moon  were  shining  with  unusual  brilliancy.  It 
was  an  ideal  morning.  The  passengers  were 
soon  astir,  anxious  to  catch  their  first  glimpse  of 
Japan  and  be  ready  to  go  ashore  early. 

Excitement  and  expectancy  ran  high.  The 
view  just  before  daybreak  was  magnificent.  The 
world-famous  Mount  Fuji,  covered  on  all  sides 
with  a  heavy  cap  of  snow,  stood  out  in  majesty 
before  us,  just  back  of  the  city  of  Yokohama. 
This  solitary  extinct  volcanic  peak  rises  12,000 
feet  above  sea  level  and  was  thirty  miles  west 
of  us,  but  seemed  to  be  only  five  miles  away. 
The  rays  of  the  morning  sun  are  first  seen  on 
the  top  of  the  snow-clad  mountain,  and  give  it  a 
most  beautiful  red  tinge.  Breakfast  was  called 
early,  and  after  a  hasty  examination  by  Japanese 
custom  officers  and  a  physician,  we  saw  steam 
launches  and  all  kinds  of  Japanese  row-boats 
coming  out  to  our  ship.  We  were  soon  taken 
ashore  and  found  ourselves  in  the  midst  of  the 
old  and  new  of  this  land  of  wonderful  beauty 
and  variety.  We  saw  the  jinrikisha  and  the  ox- 
cart on  the  same  street  and  at  the  same  time  with 
the  modern  street  car  and  automobile. 
47 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

The  Japanese   people   are  no   less   interesting 
than  their  country.      They  are  most  active  and  | 
aggressive  and  have  wonderful  power  of  initia- 
tive.    They  are  indeed  leading  the  Orient. 

Fifty  years  ago  they  cut  loose  from  the  policy 
of  isolation  and  launched  into  the  world's  work 
with   other   nations,   and   they   have   since  beeni 
reckoned  with  as  a  strong  factor  in  commerce, 
in  education,  and  in  military  strength. 

The  population  of  Japan  fifty  years  ago  was 
thirty  millions.  It  is  now  fifty-one  millions,  and 
is  still  increasing  rapidly.  Her  people  cannot  gain 
a  livelihood  by  opening  up  new  agricultural  dis- 
tricts, for  only  from  twelve  to  fourteen  per  cent, 
of  the  entire  area  of  Japan  is  susceptible  of  cul- 
tivation. So  the  Japanese  have  been  forced  to 
enter  upon  a  period  of  industrial  and  commercial 
activity.  New  industries  are  being  fostered  in 
many  places,  and  a  most  aggressive  commercial 
policy  has  been  adopted.  Already  Japanese 
freight  and  passenger  steamships  dominate  the  j 
Orient,  and  their  lines  run  out  to  Australia,  South 
Africa,  and  South  America,  as  well  as  to  India, 
Great  Britain,  and  the  United  States. 

Japan  has  caught  a  vision  of  her  possibilities 
in  commerce ;  she  has  discovered  her  intellectual 
ability,  as  her  splendid  schools  testify;  she  has 
become  proud  and  ambitious  on  account  of  her 
military  achievements ;  but  the  great  discovery, 
namely,  that  Jesus  Christ  and  his  kingdom  should 
48 


The   New   Emperor   of  Japan. 
Emperor    Yoshihito   has    officially    announced   "Taisho" 
''Great   Righteousness"   as  the  motto  of  his  reign. 


Progressive  japan 

be  over  all,  and  first  of  all,  has  not  yet  enriched 
the  millions  in  Japan. 

Remarkable  Changes 

It  seems  incredible  that  but  fifty  years  ago 
notice  boards  were  standing  on  the  highways  of 
Japan  announcing  that  Christianity  is  a  forbidden 
religion.  Through  the  fatal  blunder  on  the  part 
of  Roman  Catholic  missionaries  three  centuries 
ago,  the  Japanese  government  was  led  to  believe 
that  they  were  seeking  to  get  control  of  the  state. 

Accordingly,  in  1614,  an  edict  was  issued 
that  all  members  of  religious  orders,  whether 
Europeans  or  Japanese,  should  be  sent  out  of  the 
country.  The  persecutions  of  Christians  that 
followed  were  most  horrible.  Some  were  hurled 
from  the  top  of  precipices,  others  buried  alive, 
some  were  torn  asunder  by  oxen,  others  tied  up 
in  rice  bags  and  heaped  together  and  the  pile 
thus  formed  set  on  fire,  others  were  tortured  be- 
fore death  by  the  insertion  of  sharp  spikes  under 
the  nails  of  their  hands  and  feet,  and  thus  by  this 
cruel  and  unrelenting  persecution,  within  a  few 
years  all  visible  traces  of  Christianity  were 
stamped  out.  The  rank  and  file  in  Japan  even 
to-day  hold  secret  misgivings  concerning  the  real 
purpose  of  Christianity. 

But  a  wonderful  change  is  coming.     Religious 

liberty  has  been  written  in  the  constitution  of  the 

nation,  and  the  Bible,  which  fifty  years  ago  was 

an  unknown  book,  is  now  printed  by  two  strong 

49 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

Bible  societies  and  scattered  far  and  wide  by  all 
the  missionary  agencies. 

During  my  visit  in  Japan,  the  fiftieth  anniver- 
sary of  Dr.  John  H.  Ballagh's  work  as  a  mission- 
ary was  celebrated  in  a  most  impressive  manner. 
The  occasion  brought  out  the  oldest  men  in  mis- 
sionary work  and  the  strongest  leaders  in  the 
Protestant  churches  in  Japan,  both  Japanese  and 
foreign  missionaries.  Doctor  Ballagh  is  the  first 
missionary  to  pass  fifty  years  of  service  in  Japan. 
This  unique  occasion  took  us  across  almost  the 
entire  period  of  missionary  activity,  and  im- 
pressed one  strongly  with  the  growth  and  present 
strength  of  Protestant  Christianity  in  the  country. 
Fifty  years  ago  there  was  not  a  Protestant  Chris- 
tian in  Japan,  while  to-day  they  are  found  in 
every  walk  of  life, — members  of  parliament, 
judges,  professors  in  universities,  editors,  and 
officers  in  the  army. 

Doctor  Ballagh  had  been  in  Japan  ten  years 
before  the  first  Protestant  Church  was  organized, 
March  10,  1872,  with  eleven  members.  There 
are  now  over  six  hundred  organized  churches  and 
nearly  a  thousand  other  churches  not  yet  fully 
organized.  There  are  sixteen  hundred  Sunday 
schools  with  ninety-five  thousand  teachers  and 
pupils,  and  the  native  churches  contributed  last 
year  for  their  own  support  about  one  hundred 
and  forty  thousand  dollars.  The  growth  in  the 
church  membership  has  been  as  follows :  In 
1872,  11;  1882,  4,361;  1900,  42,461;  and  at  the 

50 


Progressive  Japan 

present   time,   80,000   are   enrolled   in   Japanese 
Protestant  churches. 

But  the  power  of  Christianity  is  far  greater 
than  these  figures  would  indicate.  There  are  no 
mass  movements  in  Japan  such  as  are  found  in 
India.  Because  of  the  solidarity  of  the  Japanese 
nation  and  the  handicap  put  on  Christian  educa- 
tion by  the  government  in  the  past,  every  inch 
of  advance  had  to  be  made  by  winning  individ- 
uals one  at  a  time  away  from  prejudice  and  su- 
perstition. Hence,  the  victories  achieved  repre- 
sent vastly  more  in  the  way  of  sacrifice  and 
power  on  the  part  of  the  Christian  church  than 
the  same  figures  would  show  in  some  other  field. 

Christianity  Recognized 

Not  only  Christian  statesmen,  but  other  think- 
ing men  are  convinced  that  Japan  must  have  a 
different  basis  for  her  spiritual  and  moral  life. 
The  prevalence  of  immorality  has  become  alarm- 
ing to  the  leaders.  Baron  Makino,  their  Min- 
ister of  Education,  says,  "We  are  greatly  dis- 
tressed about  the  moral  condition  of  the  students 
and  the  low  character  of  the  ordinary  lodging 
houses  in  Japan." 

Recently  many  of  the  leaders  in  Japan  came 
together  in  council  about  this  matter,  and  decided 
to  call  together  representatives  of  the  various 
religious  sects  and  counsel  with  them  on  this  sub- 
ject. This  conference  was  held  on  February  25, 
1912,  and  was  composed  of  representatives  from 

51 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

the  Christians,  the  Buddhists,  and  the  Shintoists. 
This  was  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  Japan 
when  she  actually  recognized  Protestant  Chris- 
tianity by  inviting  its  representatives  to  confer 
with  the  government  on  moral  questions.  This 
conference  has  produced  a  profound  and  opti- 
mistic impression  in  favor  of  Christianity.  In 
certain  cities  in  Japan,  government  officials 
have,  since  this  conference,  attended  Protestant 
churches  in  a  body,  because  they  now  regard  the 
action  of  the  government  as  a  public  recognition 
of  the  power  of  Christianity. 

In  harmony  with  this  search  for  a  solid  basis 
of  morality,  the  new  emperor  of  Japan,  Yoshi- 
hito,  has  recently  issued  a  decree  of  great  signifi- 
cance. It  is  customary  in  Japan  for  each  reign 
to  have  a  special  designation.  The  reign  which 
closed  on  July  30,  1912,  with  the  death  of  Em- 
peror Mutsuhito,  was  very  appropriately  known 
as  the  period  of  "Meiji"  or  "Enlightenment,"  for 
it  was  during  his  reign  of  forty-four  years  that 
Japan  has  made  such  wonderful  progress.  The 
new  Emperor  Yoshihito  has  taken  an  important 
step  forward  by  officially  designating  the  present 
reign  as  an  era  of  "Taisho"  or  "Great  Righteous- 
ness." The  emperor  himself  is  an  intelligent 
man  of  high  moral  character  and  the  first  Japan- 
ese ruler  to  be  a  monogamist.  Christians  every- 
where will  pray  for  the  Japanese  people  and  their 
emperor  in  their  search  for  righteousness  that 
they  may  stand  not  on  their  own  righteousness, 

52 


Progressive  Japan 

but  discover  and  abide  in  the  righteousness  of 
God  in  Christ  Jesus  as  the  only  sure  foundation 
for  individual  purity  and  national  greatness. 

Our  Own  Workers 

I  found  the  work  of  our  missionaries  and  Jap- 
anese pastors  of  such  a  splendid  character  as  to 
commend  it  most  favorably  to  the  other  Christian 
forces  in  the  Empire.  Doctor  Howard  has  been 
a  member  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
National  Sunday-School  Association.  He  has 
acted  also  as  chairman  of  the  Conference  of 
Federated  Missions  for  the  Empire,  and  recently 
served  as  a  member  of  the  committee  to  investi- 
gate and  report  on  unoccupied  fields  in  Japan. 

Rev.  Joseph  Cosand,  who  is  now  acting  as 
treasurer  of  the  mission,  has  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  all  the  Christian  workers,  and  has  had 
charge  of  the  building  of  the  new  churches 
erected  the  past  year  at  Harajuku  and  Shimo 
Shibuya. 

Rev.  B.  F.  Shively  has  won  a  large  place  in 
the  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  professors  and 
students  of  the  Doshisha  University.  He  is  now 
in  America  in  preparation  for  larger  service. 

The  wives  of  our  missionaries  in  Japan  bear 
their  share  of  responsibility  for  the  work. 
Through  personal  interviews,  through  Bible 
classes  and  cooking  classes,  as  well  as  through 
the  power  of  their  Christian  homes,  they  are  ex- 
erting a  great  influence  for  the  kingdom  of  God. 

53 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

Our  Japanese  pastors  take  a  prominent  part 
in  the  national  and  city  conventions  among  the 
Japanese  churches,  and  they  have  proved  them- 
selves to  be  most  efficient,  loyal  leaders  of  their 
local  churches.  They  receive  on  an  average  a 
salary  of  nineteen  dollars  per  month. 

The  spirit  that  is  taking  hold  of  the  Japanese 
pastors  is  shown  by  the  remarks  of  Rev.  Mr. 
Ishiguro.  I  asked  him  for  a  message  from  the 
Bible  that  would  express  his  supreme  purpose. 
He  replied,  "Watch  thou  in  all  things,  endure 
afflictions,  do  the  work  of  an  evangelist,  make 
full  proof  of  thy  ministry."  Then  he  went  on 
to  say:  "My  ambition  is  not  for  a  high  position 
as  bishop,  or  president  of  some  school.  My  one 
desire  is  to  be  like  Paul,  to  preach  the  gospel,  to 
establish  Christian  churches  in  many  places,  and 
to  build  up  strong  self-supporting  churches  soon. 
That  is  my  purpose.  Now,  won't  you  pray  for 
me,  and  please  ask  my  friends  in  America  to 
pray  also  that  Christ  may  give  me  power  to  do 
this?" 

Earnest  Christian  Laymen 

I  had  the  privilege  of  meeting  and  counseling 
with  many  earnest  Christian  laymen  while  in 
Japan — men  who  have  been  won  to  Christ 
through  the  labors  of  our  missionaries  and  Jap- 
anese pastors.  These  are  working  with  their 
pastors  and  the  missionaries  with  conviction  and 
loyalty.  The  story  of  the  work  of  one  of  them, 
Mr.  Toda,  will  illustrate  what  others  are  doing. 
54 


Progressive  Japan 

About  ten  years  ago  Mr.  Toda  was  a  guard  in 
the  Kyoto  prison.  He  was  anxious  to  get  a 
better  position  and  thought  that  by  learning  Eng- 
lish he  might  become  a  school-teacher.  He  heard 
of  an  English  Bible  class  conducted  by  our  United 
Brethren  Church,  and  he  came  to  it  for  the  pur- 
pose of  learning  English,  but  in  the  course  of  a 
few  months  the  gospel  message  gripped  his  heart 
and  he  became  a  Christian.  Soon  after  uniting 
with  the  church  he  was  anxious  that  his  family 
and  neighbors  also  might  become  Christians.  So 
he  requested  Brother  Ishiguro  to  conduct  gospel 
meetings  in  his  own  home.  Largely  through  the 
efforts  of  this  layman  and  the  testimony  of  his 
earnest  Christian  life  our  Second  United  Breth- 
ren Church  in  Kyoto  was  organized. 

About  two  years  ago  Mr.  Toda  and  family 
moved  from  Kyoto  to  Osaka,  the  largest  commer- 
cial center  of  all  Japan,  and  in  which  city  we 
had  no  mission  at  that  time.  Mr.  Toda  at  once 
requested  that  our  Church  begin  missionary  work 
in  a  district  of  one  hundred  thousand  people  in 
that  great  city.  Rev.  Mr.  Ishiguro  became  inter- 
ested and  visited  the  place.  Ninety  dollars  were 
spent  in  fixing  up  a  private  house  for  public  wor- 
ship, and  when  I  visited  this  thriving  mission  I 
found  these  earnest  workers  had  won  seventy-five 
wide-awake  persons  to  Jesus  Christ  and  had  a 
splendid  church  organized.  The  spirit  of  evan- 
gelism and  aggressive  work  was  manifestly  pres- 
ent 

55 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

They  urged  that  our  Foreign  Mission  Board 
secure  for  them  a  lot  and  said  that  they  them- 
selves would  build  the  church  house.  Such 
rapid  progress  as  this  does  not  seem  remarkable 
in  America,  but  in  Japan  where  heathen  shrines, 
temples,  and  images  abound,  and  the  very  atmos- 
phere is  saturated  with  pagan  ideas,  the  growth 
of  this  mission  church  in  Osaka  is  clear  evidence 
of  the  wonder-working  power  of  God.  It  illus- 
trates also  what  one  earnest  Christian  layman 
like  Mr.  Toda  can  accomplish  for  God  in  a  great 
city. 

Encouraging  Growth 

The  last  year  in  our  mission  in  Japan  there 
were  added,  on  an  average,  seventeen  members 
for  each  Japanese  pastor.  The  growth  in  the 
Methodist  and  Presbyterian  churches  shows  an 
average  increase  of  but  six  members  for  each 
Japanese  pastor,  while  for  the  Congregational 
churches  the  average  for  each  one  was  nineteen. 
Our  membership  increased  from  five  hundred 
and  eighty-nine  to  seven  hundred  and  thirty- 
three,  or  a  gain  of  twenty-four  per  cent,  during 
the  last  twelve  months.  Of  our  seventeen  Jap- 
anese workers,  eleven  are  ordained  men.  We 
have  seventeen  organized  churches  and  eight 
other  regular  preaching  places,  six  chapels  and 
church  buildings,  seven  Christian  Endeavor  socie- 
ties, and  nineteen  Sunday  schools  with  an  enroll- 
ment of  one  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirteen. 
56 


Progressive  Japan 

The  total  value  of  our  property  is  $47,634,  and 
the  amount  contributed  on  the  field  last  year 
toward  self-support  was  $1,472. 

A  Tour  of  Inspection 

We  visited  personally  our  mission  work  at 
Nihombashi,  Hon  jo,  Harajuku,  Shimo  Shibuya, 
Kyoto,  Osaka,  Nagoya,  and  Shizuoka;  held 
preaching  services  at  each  place  and  had  the  joy 
of  seeing  a  number  of  decisions  for  Christ. 
These  visitations  revealed  the  fact  that  our  seven- 
teen preaching  places  are  supplying  the  only  priv- 
ileges of  the  gospel  to  districts,  as  follows : 
I.     Places  already  equipped  with  buildings. 

1.  Kyoto,  a  city  of  400,000,  First  U.  B. 
Church ;  field  to  be  evangelized,  20,000 ;  a  splen- 
did church  building  and  parsonage  for  Japanese 
pastor,  valued  at  $8,000 ;  church  aggressive ;  out- 
look for  a  strong  church  and  self-support  most 
hopeful. 

2.  Shizuoka,  a  splendid  city.  Our  district, 
10,000;  we  have  a  suitable  church  lot,  building, 
and  parsonage  provided;  value  of  same,  $1,750. 

3.  Harajuku,  where  we  have  a  most  up-to- 
date  new  church  building  and  parsonage,  valued 
at  $9,500;  a  great  open  door  for  a  mighty  work 
in  evangelism  and  the  training  of  students  for 
the  ministry. 

4.  Shimo  Shibuya,  adjacent  to  our  missionary 
residences ;  district,  10,000 ;  a  neat  church  build- 
ing has  been  erected  on  our  own  lot ;  value  of 

57 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

lot  and  building,  $3,800 ;  an  excellent  opportunity 
for  kindergarten  and  evangelistic  work. 
II.     Places  greatly  needing  equipment. 

1.  Kyoto,  Second  Church.  District,  18,000; 
church  in  a  rented  house;  present  need,  $4,000 
for  a  lot ;  $2,500  for  a  church  building. 

2.  Osaka,  a  city  of  1,200,000;  our  district, 
100,000;  church  in  rented  house;  present  urgent 
need,  a  church  lot,  $5,000.  The  aggressive  con- 
gregation and  pastor  declare  they  will  erect  the 
church  building  themselves  if  the  mission  pro- 
vides the  lot. 

3.  Nagoya,  a  large  city;  our  district,  20,000; 
greatly  need  a  church  lot,  $5,000,  and  a  church 
building,  $2,500. 

4.  Numazu.  Our  district,  5,000;  the  present 
needs,  $750  for  a  lot  and  $1,500  for  a  church 
building. 

5.  Odawara.  Our  district,  6,000;  present 
needs,  $750  for  a  lot,  $1,500  for  a  church  build- 
ing. 

6.  Honjo,  a  section  of  Tokyo,  30,000  popula- 
tion; a  live  church  at  work;  needs  a  lot,  $1,000, 
and  church  building,  $3,500. 

7.  Okubo.  Our  field,  15,000;  present  need, 
$1,500  for  a  lot  and  $2,500  for  a  church  building. 

8.  Otsu,  in  the  center  of  a  district  of  100,000, 
all  of  which  should  be  assumed  by  our  Church 
at  this  time ;  present  need  for  a  lot,  $1,500,  for  a 
church  building,  $1,500. 

58 


Progressive  Japan 

9.  In  Funabashi,  Matsudo,  and  Noda  we 
have  a  good  start  in  missionary  work ;  population 
of  districts,  respectively,  20,000,  10,000,  and 
15,000;  new  church  buildings  and  lots  should 
be  provided  soon.      Total  cost  for  these,  $6,750. 

10.  Nihombashi,  a  district  of  Tokyo,  which 
has  a  population  of  151,873,  and  in  this  district 
there  are  but  three  chapels  with  a  total  seating 
capacity  of  about  400.  Our  distinct  field  has  a 
population  of  40,000.  Being  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  capital  of  the  Empire,  the  lot  and  church 
building  will  cost  $12,500.  This  is  a  most  press- 
ing and  important  need. 

An  Unreaped  Harvest 

During  the  last  two  years  the  missionary  lead- 
ers in  Japan  have  made  thorough-going  investi- 
gations to  find  out  the  exact  religious  condition 
of  the  Empire.  The  results  announced  are  the 
greatest  challenge  that  has  ever  come  from 
Japan. 

Of  the  fifty-one  million  people  in  the  Empire 
it  is  found  that  thirty-five  millions  are  living  in 
towns  of  twenty  thousand  and  less,  and  in  coun- 
try places.  These  towns  and  country  places  have 
been  practically  untouched  as  yet  with  gospel 
messengers.  In  other  words,  there  are  now  in 
Japan  more  people  without  gospel  privileges  than 
are  found  in  the  entire  population  of  the  United 
States  west  of  the  Mississippi  River.  This  re- 
ligious census  revealed  also  the  fact  that  even  in 

50 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

great  cities  where  missionary  work  has  been 
started  the  need  is  appalling. 

In  the  six  provinces  around  Tokyo  there  is  but 
one  Christian  to  every  620  non-Christians ;  one 
Japanese  pastor  to  every  38,310  persons,  and  one 
evangelistic  missionary  to  88,263  persons. 

In  the  district  of  Tokyo  there  is  but  one  evan- 
gelistic missionary  for  every  123,000,  and  one 
Japanese  pastor  to  50,000  of  the  people.  The 
facilities  in  the  way  of  chapels  and  churches  are 
wholly  inadequate.  As  the  result  of  this  inves- 
tigation a  call  has  been  sent  to  America  for  a 
greatly  increased  number  of  evangelistic  mission- 
aries who  shall  take  charge  of  these  neglected 
districts. 

An  interdenominational  committee,  which  has 
charge  of  the  distribution  of  Christian  forces, 
has  asked  the  United  Brethren  Mission  to  evan- 
gelize Chiba  Ken,  a  district  just  northwest  of 
Tokyo,  in  which  there  are  fourteen  towns  and 
thirty-eight  villages  with  a  total  population  of 
210,115.  We  already  have  preaching  services 
in  three  of  the  largest  towns,  Funabashi,  Mat- 
sudo,  and  Noda.  Here  is  a  large,  compact  field, 
immediately  adjacent  to  our  present  work,  which 
will  afford  a  first-class  opportunity  for  a  strong 
evangelistic  missionary  to  do  telling  work  for 
God  during  the  next  twenty-five  years. 

Another  district  assigned  us  is  Shiga  Ken,  of 
which  Otsu  is  the  capital.  In  this  province, 
which  is  situated  just  east  of  Kyoto,  there  is  a 
60 


Progressive  Japan 

population  of  691,000.  At  least  100,000  people 
of  this  neglected  field  should  be  taken  by  us.  In 
this  district  there  are  150  unoccupied  towns,  each 
with  a  population  of  from  two  thousand  to  four 
thousand.  In  the  center  of  this  place,  Rev. 
Monroe  Crecelius  laid  down  his  life  some  years 
ago.  What  is  needed  is  a  missionary  who  will 
take  up  the  work  of  this  fallen  hero,  and  go 
among  the  towns  and  villages  organizing  and 
developing  mission  circuits. 

At  our  Harrisburg  Board  meeting  it  was  unan- 
imously voted  that  our  denomination  accept  the 
foregoing  named  districts  as  ours  to  evangelize, 
and  that  two  missionary  families  be  secured  as 
soon  as  possible  to  occupy  these  fields. 

A  Mighty  Task 

When  one  considers  the  fact  that  in  Japan 
there  is  practically  no  Sabbath,  that  the  chief 
currents  of  social  and  political  life  are  anti- 
Christian,  that  there  has  been  a  distinct  revival 
of  Buddhism  and  ancestral  worship,  and  that 
five-sevenths  of  the  entire  population  are  in  dis- 
tricts destitute  of  gospel  privileges,  the  magni- 
tude of  the  task  that  is  before  the  Christian  forces 
appears  stupendous. 

It  is  at  once  apparent  that  unity  of  forces  is 
absolutely  essential  in  order  that  the  best  possi- 
ble results  may  be  secured  from  the  lives  and 
money  invested  for  the  evangelization  of  this 
Empire.       Accordingly,    four   strong   groups   of 

61 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

churches  have  already  been  formed.  These  in- 
clude the  Kumiai,  with  which  the  Congregational 
Mission  is  cooperating;  the  Church  of  Christ, 
with  which  the  Presbyterians,  the  German  Re- 
formed, and  the  Dutch  Reformed  Missions  are 
cooperating;  the  United  Methodist  Japanese 
Church,  with  which  the  Methodist  Episcopal, 
Methodist  Church  of  Canada,  and  Methodist 
Church  South  are  cooperating;  and  the  Japanese 
Episcopal  Church,  with  which  six  societies  in 
Great  Britain  and  Canada  and  the  United  States 
are  cooperating. 

These  four  Japanese  communions  or  churches 
have  enrolled  at  least  eighty  per  cent,  of  the 
entire  Protestant  church  membership  in  Japan. 
Their  general  plan  of  organization  and  work  is 
as  follows:  The  self-supporting  churches  of 
each  of  these  groups  of  missions  were  united  into 
a  Japanese  Church,  the  chief  responsibility  being 
put  into  the  hands  of  the  Japanese  pastors  and 
laymen.  A  home  missionary  society  has  been 
organized  by  each  Japanese  communion  thus  con- 
stituted, for  extending  its  work  in  Japan,  but  as 
only  a  small  part  of  the  task  already  begun  in 
the  several  missions  could  be  supported  by  these 
Japanese  churches,  the  several  missions  have 
agreed  among  themselves  to  be  responsible  for 
a  certain  amount  of  the  home  missionary  work 
already  begun,  and  for  the  starting  of  work  in 
some  of  the  new  places  to  be  entered.  Thus  each 
mission  is  taking  hold  of  many  weak  churches 

62 


Progressive  Japan 

and  new  places,  and  developing  them  into  self- 
supporting  local  churches,  and  then  turning  them 
over  to  the  Japanese  communion  with  which  it  is 
cooperating. 

In  working  out  this  plan  there  has  been  much 
thought  and  energy  given  to  it  by  both  the  mis- 
sionaries and  the  Japanese  pastors.  The  results 
achieved  will  be  a  great  contribution  toward  a 
satisfactory  solution  of  the  problem  of  an  aggres- 
sive, united  native  church  in  all  the  mission  fields 
of  the  world. 

After  carefully  studying  the  problem  of  co- 
operation on  the  field,  it  was  the  combined  judg- 
ment of  the  missionaries  and  the  secretary  that 
in  order  to  give  the  Japanese  pastors  the  largest 
fellowship,  inspiration,  and  responsibility  for  the 
evangelization  of  their  own  country,  our  mission 
with  others  not  yet  cooperating  with  one  of  the 
four  mentioned  groups  of  Japanese  churches, 
should  seek  to  do  so ;  or  by  committee  or  other- 
wise join  with  others  in  an  effort  to  bring  these 
four  groups  of  Japanese  churches  together  with 
all  other  Christian  churches,  into  one  well-organ- 
ized, aggressive  Japanese  church,  so  as  to  bring 
the  combined  impact  of  Christianity  to  bear  upon 
the  superhuman  problems  before  the  Christian 
church  in  Japan. 

CO-OPERATION   IN   EDUCATIONAL  WORK 

In  addition  to  the  closer  federation  of  the  Jap- 
anese churches,  the  outstanding  need  in  Japan  is 

63 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

for  a  Christian  university.  Dr.  D.  B.  Schneder, 
the  president  of  the  Conference  of  Federated 
Missions  in  Japan,  recently  voiced  this  need,  as 
follows:  "If  Christianity  is  to  fulfill  its  mission 
in  Japan,  it  needs,  first  of  all,  preachers  of  the 
gospel  who  are  thoroughly  educated  in  first-class, 
vigorous  Christian  institutions  of  learning.  A 
university  is  the  great  need  of  the  hour  in  Chris- 
tian education  in  Japan,  and  to  bring  this  widely- 
cherished  dream  into  reality,  one  strong,  united, 
undaunted  effort  should  by  all  means  be  made  at 
this  point  in  the  history  of  Christian  work  in 
Japan." 

While  I  was  in  Japan,  definite  steps  were  taken 
by  the  trustees  of  the  Doshisha  College  to  meet 
this  expressed  need,  by  extending  its  courses  so 
as  to  become  a  Christian  university.  The  gov- 
ernment has  already  approved  this  action  and  the 
Doshisha  now  enters  upon  a  career  of  marvelous 
opportunity.  The  alumni  and  friends  of  the  in- 
stitution in  Japan  are  rallying  to  its  support. 

Our  Church  has  been  cooperating  with  this 
school  for  more  than  ten  years,  first  by  sending 
Rev.  J.  Edgar  Knipp  and  later  Rev.  B.  F.  Shively 
to  teach  in  it.  The  authorities  have  recently 
asked  that  Rev.  B.  F.  Shively  take  the  chair  of 
Religious  Pedagogy  in  the  Theological  Depart- 
ment, and  that  our  Church  support  a  Japanese 
professor  also,  who  shall  be  a  specialist  in  the 
Old  Testament. 

64 


Bird's-Eye   View  of  the  Doshisha,  Kyoto. 


Intermediate   Boys  and  Girls,   Honjo   U.   B.   Sunday  School, 
Tokyo. 


Progressive  Japan 

Some  of  the  most  able  Japanese  pastors,  like 
Mr.  Ishiguro,  have  received  their  training  in  the 
Doshisha.  We  now  have  three  students  there  in 
preparation  for  the  ministry.  Our  superintend- 
ent, Doctor  Howard,  says:  "If  we  had  no  con- 
nection with  a  school  of  this  sort,  it  would  cost 
us  far  more  to  run  a  training  school  of  our  own, 
and  even  at  the  greater  expense  our  men  could 
not  get  the  inspiration  and  preparation  they  re- 
ceive in  this  great  university."  While  non- 
Christians  may  contribute  to  the  support  of  the 
secular  department  of  the  Doshisha,  they  cannot 
be  counted  on  to  support  the  theological  depart- 
ment. Christian  men  and  churches  and  missions 
must  bear  this  responsibility. 

The  Present  Challenge 

The  urgency  of  helping  Japan  to-day  was 
summed  up  at  the  World's  Missionary  Confer- 
ence in  Edinburgh,  as  follows:  "What  is  done 
for  Japan  is  done  for  the  whole  Orient.  What  we 
do  for  her  we  must  do  quickly,  or  too  late  mourn 
our  short-sightedness.  We  would  not  be  alarm- 
ists, but  the  facts  are  disquieting.  The  educated 
portion  of  the  population  is  already  largely  nat- 
uralistic and  agnostic.  Few  educators  have  any 
use  for  religion  at  all.  Hence  there  is  a  process 
going  on,  which,  if  unchecked,  will  make  it  very 
difficult  for  the  gospel  to  find  entrance.  Mean- 
while also  the  transition  stage  will  pass,  and  the 
country  will  settle  down  to  more  fixed  modes  of 

65 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

thought.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary  to  act  quickly 
and  give  Japan,  without  delay,  all  she  needs  in 
the  way  of  missionaries  and  educational  institu- 
tions." 

God's  present  call  to  our  own  Church  is  to 
take  the  following  advance  steps : 

1.  Send  out  two  additional  missionaries  to 
occupy  the  two  needy  districts,  Chiba  Ken  and 
Shiga  Ken,  with  their  300,000  people,  which  we 
have  accepted  as  ours  to  evangelize. 

2.  Support  a  Japanese  professor  in  the  theo- 
logical department  of  the  Doshisha.  These  two 
advance  steps  will  require  an  annual  increase  in 
the  current  expenses  of  the  mission  of  $3,100. 

3.  Provide  $54,250  within  five  years  for  lots, 
new  buildings,  and  equipment  already  mentioned 
in  detail  in  this  report. 

4.  Purchase  at  once  a  lot  and  erect  a  church 
building  in  the  central  district  of  Tokyo,  for  our 
Nihombashi  Church,  where  forty  thousand  people 
look  to  us  for  the  gospel.  This  lot  and  church 
will  cost  $12,500. 

At  the  recent  meeting  of  the  Foreign  Mission- 
ary Society,  at  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  the  foregoing 
needs  for  Japan  were  thoroughly  considered  and 
the  Board,  by  unanimous  vote,  approved  the 
same,  and  recommended  that  our  denomination 
make  these  advances  at  the  earliest  possible 
moment. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  say  that  one  cannot  but 
admire  the  Japanese  people  because  of  their  cour- 
66 


Progressive  Japan 

tesy,  their  ambition,  and  their  aggressiveness. 
What  a  contribution  will  come  to  the  Church  of 
Christ  when  the  millions  of  Japan  see  him  as 
their  life  and  their  Lord,  and  yield  their  splendid 
talents  to  make  his  kingdom  universal !  It  is 
well  worth  while  to  win  such  a  people  to  Jesus 
Christ,  and  turn  their  activities  into  channels  for 
the  uplift  of  the  world. 


67 


III. 

We  witnessed  a  most  striking  contrast  in  going 
from  China  to  the  Philippines.  In  Canton,  with 
its  population  of  two  million,  there  were  no  street 
cars,  no  automobiles,  and  no  horses  on  her  eight- 
foot-wide  congested  streets,  and  no  stable  gov- 
ernment to  insure  protection  of  life  and  prop- 
erty. We  found  Manila  changed  from  an  anti- 
quated, mosquito-infested,  mediaeval  town  to  a 
modern  city,  with  beautiful  parks  and  boulevards 
and  hundreds  of  automobiles,  buggies,  and  street 
cars,  and  over  all,  Old  Glory  pledging  liberty, 
opportunity,  and  protection. 

A  Strategic  Stroke 

Not  by  mere  chance  were  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
placed  over  the  Philippine  Islands  fourteen  years 
ago.  That  was  one  of  God's  orderly  movements. 
When  the  children  of  Israel  were  greatly  op- 
pressed in  Egypt,  God  saw  it  and  sent  Moses  to 
deliver  them.  So,  in  1898,  the  hour  had  arrived 
for  God  to  deliver  eight  million  oppressed  Fili- 
pinos, and  he  called  the  United  States  to  do  it. 
One  hundred  years  hence  the  world  will  have  a 
better  idea  of  the  great  purpose  God  had  for  the 
entire  Orient  when  he  called  the  United  States 
to  take  hold  of  the  Philippines.  The  Strait 
Settlements,  China,  and  Japan  are  finding  in  the 
Philippines  a  powerful  object  lesson.  President 
68 


The  Advancing  Philippines 

McKinley's  own  statement  reads  like  a  paragraph 
from  the  Bible.     He  said  : 

"When  I  discovered  that  the  Philippines  had 
fallen  into  our  lap,  I  confess  I  did  not  know  what 
to  do  with  them.  I  sought  counsel  from  all  sides, 
but  got  little  help.  I  walked  the  floor  of  the 
White  House  night  after  night  till  after  mid- 
night, and  I  am  not  ashamed  to  tell  that  I  went 
down  on  my  knees  and  prayed  God  for  light  and 
guidance  more  than  one  night.  Well,  it  came  to 
me  this  way.  (1)  That  we  could  not  give  these 
islands  back  to  Spain ;  that  would  be  cowardly 
and  dishonorable.  (2)  We  could  not  leave  them 
to  themselves,  or  they  would  soon  have  misrule 
and  anarchy.  (3)  There  was  nothing  left  for 
us  to  do  but  to  take  them  all,  to  educate  and  up- 
lift them,  to  civilize  and  Christianize  them,  and 
by  God's  grace  do  the  very  best  we  could  for 
them  as  our  fellow-men  for  whom  Christ  also 
died.  And  then  I  went  to  bed  and  to  sleep,  and 
slept  soundly;  and  the  next  morning  I  sent  for 
the  chief  engineer  of  the  War  Department,  who 
is  our  map-maker,  and  said,  'Put  the  Philippine 
Islands  on  the  map  of  the  United  States.'  "  And, 
pointing  to  a  large  wall  map,  he  said,  "And  there 
they  are  and  shall  remain  as  long  as  I  am 
President." 

Lifting  the  Philippines  Godward 

The  work  accomplished  by  the  American  mis- 
sionary and  the  American  Government  for  the 

69 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

uplift  of  the  Philippines  fills  the  heart  with  en- 
thusiastic praises.  On  the  one  side,  the  Govern- 
ment has  been  building  roads,  introducing  sani- 
tary conditions,  developing  a  stable,  representa- 
tive government,  and  establishing  one  of  the  best 
school  systems  on  earth,  which  gives  special 
emphasis  to  manual  and  industrial  training.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  American  missionary  has  been 
helping  by  translating  the  Bible  into  the  lan- 
guages of  the  people,  by  organizing  Sunday 
schools,  winning  converts  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  by 
establishing  churches  and  Christian  educational 
institutions. 

Things  are  moving  at  a  rapid  pace  in  the  Phil- 
ippines. Think  of  it!  Fourteen  years  ago,  only 
five  thousand  boys  and  girls  were  given  any  sort 
of  school  privileges  in  the  Philippines.  To-day 
there  are  six  hundred  and  ten  thousand  in  the 
public  schools. 

During  the  last  ten  years  the  missionaries  have 
mastered  the  various  languages,  adapted  them- 
selves to  primitive  conditions  and  great  hardships 
in  opening  up  the  country,  and  have  won  to 
Christ  fifty-two  thousand  four  hundred  converts, 
who  are  now  being  trained  to  do  all  kinds  of 
Christian  work. 

One  of  the  missionary  assets  now  found  in  the 
Philippines  is  a  band  of  true  and  tried  mission- 
ary statesmen — men  and  women  who  have  sur- 
vived the  change  in  climate  and  the  test  of  mas- 
tering a  new  language  and  of  adapting  themselves 
70 


The  Advancing  Philippines 

to  strange  conditions.  These  missionaries  are 
now  able  leaders  who  will  direct  wisely  the  ad- 
vances of  the  next  decade. 

United  Brethren  Activities 

We  found  our  own  mission  work  in  first-class 
condition.  Missionaries  of  other  communions 
congratulated  us  on  having  what  they  considered 
the  best  type  of  intensive  organization  and  work 
among  the  native  local  churches  found  anywhere. 
All  the  missionaries  in  the  Philippines  are  full  of 
enthusiasm  similar  to  that  found  in  Korea.  Each 
one  of  our  own  workers  has  a  definite  task  to  do, 
but  each  is  ready  to  supplement  or  take  up  the 
work  of  another  when  necessary. 

Rev.  S.  B.  Kurtz  who,  with  his  wife  and  family 
is  now  in  this  country  on  furlough,  was  the  ex- 
pert treasurer  of  our  Philippine  Mission.  Dur- 
ing the  year  before  his  return  to  the  States,  he 
represented  our  Church  as  a  professor  on  the 
faculty  of  the  Union  Bible  Seminary  in  Manila, 
in  which  institution  the  Presbyterians,  Metho- 
dists, and  United  Brethren  are  cooperating  to 
give  the  young  men  of  these  missions  the  best 
possible  preparation   for  the  ministry. 

This  seminary  holds  its  session  each  year  from 
June  to  December,  which  is  the  rainy  season, 
when  both  the  missionary  professors  and  the 
students  can  best  be  spared  from  the  work  at 
their  stations.  From  December  to  June  the 
weather  is  ideal  for  evangelistic  work  and  district 
71 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

institutes,  and  during  these  months  the  students 
and  professors,  fresh  from  the  seminary,  go 
forth  to  put  into  practice  what  they  have  been 
acquiring  during  the  six  months  in  school. 

Last  year  our  mission  had  six  students  in  this 
Union  Seminary,  and  they  took  two  or  three 
prizes  offered  for  high-grade  work.  This  year 
our  Church  has  eight  students  in  attendance. 

Rev.  E.  J.  Pace,  who  during  his  recent  fur- 
lough in  the  States  took  some  special  training 
for  a  professorship  in  this  Union  School,  is  now 
back  in  the  Philippines  enthusiastically  at  work. 
In  addition  to  his  teaching,  he  is  devoting  much 
thought  and  time  to  reaching  the  Ilocanos  in 
Manila,  among  whom  we  recently  organized  a 
church. 

Miss  Matilda  Weber  has  been  busy  starting 
and  developing  the  Deaconess  Training  School 
at  San  Fernando,  and  assisting  in  district  insti- 
tutes. Her  work  has  been  highly  satisfactory. 
Eighteen  students  pursued  the  first  year's  course 
of  the  deaconess  school  the  past  twelve  months, 
and  the  demand  for  and  importance  of  this  kind 
of  work  call  for  a  larger  building  and  another 
lady  missionary. 

Rev.  M.  W.  Mumma  has  charge  of  the  station 
at  San  Fernando,  and  is  editor  and  publisher  of 
our  excellent  weekly  mission  paper,  the  "Nairn- 
bag  a  Damag"  (Good  News).  This  paper,  which 
was  enlarged  from  six  to  twelve  pages  last  year, 
has    increased    its    circulation    the    last    twelve 

n 


The  Advancing  Philippines 

months  from  two  thousand  three  hundred  and 
fifty  to  over  four  thousand.  It  is  conceded  by 
missionaries  of  other  churches  that  this  paper 
has  the  largest  circulation  of  any  religious  period- 
ical in  the  vernacular,  not  only  in  the  Philippines, 
but  in  the  Orient.  Through  this  paper,  Rev.  Mr. 
Mumma  reaches  every  week  at  least  ten  thousand 
interested  readers,  the  great  majority  of  whom 
have  no  other  Christian  reading  matter  whatso- 
ever. Many  have  been  led  to  Christ  through  the 
reading  of  this  paper.  The  subscription  price  is 
fifty  cents  per  year.  It  is  now  almost  self- 
supporting. 

In  addition  to  the  excellent  mission  paper,  our 
press  at  San  Fernando  is  sending  forth  many 
religious  tracts,  various  forms  of  Sunday-school 
helps,  and  small  booklets,  literature  of  the  very 
greatest  importance  for  the  Sunday  schools  and 
the  native  church  membership.  When  one  sees 
the  great  open  door  in  the  coast  and  mountain 
provinces  for  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  by 
means  of  the  printed  page,  he  can  understand 
why  Mr.  Mumma  is  bubbling  over  with  enthu- 
siasm concerning  his  work. 

Mrs.  Mumma  also  has  such  intimate  knowl- 
edge of  the  mission  press  work  as  to  be  able  to 
carry  it  along  in  addition  to  her  other  duties 
when  her  husband  is  called  away  on  work  out  of 
town. 

Rev.  H.  W.  Widdoes  has  done  high-grade 
work  as  superintendent.      He  puts  himself  right 

7,3 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

into  the  midst  of  the  fight  at  the  front  and  creates 
unbounded  enthusiasm  on  the  part  of  his  co- 
workers. 

Seeing  Actual  Work 

Dr.  A.  T.  Howard  and  the  writer  accompanied 
the  superintendent  and  Rev.  John  Abellera  on  an 
extensive  tour  of  quarterly  meetings,  visiting  our 
chief  mission  stations.  These  tours  were  a  reve- 
lation of  the  great  extent  of  our  mission  fields 
and  the  hardships  our  workers  have  to  endure. 
We  journeyed  ninety-two  miles  during  one  tour, 
on  ox-carts,  carromatas,  and  then  putting  aside 
our  vehicles,  we  saddled  the  horses  and  rode 
them  up  the  mountain  streams.  We  crossed 
rivers  on  bamboo  rafts  nine  times.  During  the 
rainy  season,  when  as  much  as  seventy-eight 
inches  of  water  falls  in  four  days,  these  rivers 
become  torrents  from  a  mile  to  three  miles  wide. 

Having  held  three  meetings  one  day,  we  came 
to  the  last  "river  for  to  cross"  after  eleven  o'clock 
at  night,  just  as  the  moon  was  disappearing  in  the 
west  and  darkness  prevented  us  from  seeing  any- 
thing across  the  river.  Contrary  to  arrangement, 
the  raftsman  had  gone  to  bed,  on  the  side  of  the 
river  opposite  from  us,  and  we  had  to  wake  him 
or  stay  all  night  on  the  south  bank.  One  after 
another  began  to  call,  but  no  response.  After 
fifteen  minutes  of  vain  endeavor,  all  came  close 
together  like  a  group  of  students  giving  their 
college  yell,  and  we  focalized  and  greatly  inten- 
74 


The  Advancing  Philippines 

sified  our  call :  "Bal-cero !  Bal-cero !  Hoy  Bal- 
ce-ro — Raftsman !  Ho !  Raftsman  !"  Soon 
the  dogs  in  the  darkness  across  the  river  began 
to  bark,  and  later  the  raftsman  signaled  that  he 
was  on  the  way ;  but  when  the  raft  finally  arrived, 
it  was  so  small  our  party  had  to  be  taken  across 
on  the  installment  plan,  each  trip  requiring  about 
half  an  hour.  We  arrived  at  our  destination 
just  one  hour  after  midnight  and  found  sleep 
most  refreshing. 

When  not  stopping  with  the  missionaries  on 
this  trip,  the  boards  on  the  floor  were  the  beds 
for  the  entire  party  save  one,  for  whom  an  army 
stretcher  had  been  secured.  Boiled  water  for 
drinking  purposes  had  to  be  taken  along  in 
bottles  from  day  to  day.  To  reach  the  goal  fixed 
for  certain  days,  it  was  necessary  to  be  on  the 
march  before  the  rising  sun  had  put  out  the 
stars,  and  so  we  had  the  great  inspiration  of  see- 
ing the  Southern  Cross  in  the  tropical  heavens, 
and  just  where  seen  to  the  best  advantage  when 
one  is  in  the  midst  of  the  mountains. 

The  preaching  services  and  evangelistic  meet- 
ings held  on  this  tour  were  largely  attended.  Of 
chief  interest  to  the  writer,  however,  were  the 
quarterly  business  meetings. 

Work  Well  Organized 

Our  superintendent  showed  marked  ability  in 
the  way  these  quarterly  meetings  were  conducted. 
Written  reports  were  submitted  by  each  pastor, 

75 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

Sunday-school  superintendent,  steward,  class 
leader,  and  lay  preacher.  These  often  called  out 
helpful  discussions. 

I  was  especially  interested  in  the  reports  of 
the  lay  preachers,  who  do  their  work  without 
remuneration.  One  reported  twenty-five  Bible 
classes,  twenty  addresses,  and  one  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  personal  interviews  with  men  during 
the  quarter,  seeking  to  lead  them  to  Christ.  Five 
young  men  were  examined  and  licensed  to  do 
similar  work.  Thus  the  good  news  is  spreading 
from  the  coast  towns  into  the  immense  mountain 
province,  just  east  and  north  of  our  work,  where 
five  hundred  thousand  persons  are  still  without 
the  gospel. 

While  Rev.  Mr.  Widdoes  has  been  making 
such  extensive  tours  as  here  described,  Mrs. 
Widdoes  and  their  five  enthusiastic  children  have 
had  to  live  alone  in  their  home  in  Tagudin,  sepa- 
rated some  twenty-five  miles  from  other  mission- 
aries. Their  interest  in  the  work  is  so  intense 
that  they  do  not  think  this  is  a  hardship. 
Professor  Camilo  Osias 

The  first  day  out  on  this  tour  of  inspection,  just 
described,  our  party  took  dinner  with  Professor 
Osias,  at  Bacnotan,  a  town  nine  miles  north  of 
San  Fernando.  While  attending  the  high  school 
at  San  Fernando  he  became  a  member  of  the  first 
Bible  class  conducted  by  our  missionaries  at  that 
place.  Through  the  study  of  the  Word  of  God 
he  was  led  to  Jesus  Christ,  and  he  united  with 
76 


The  Advancing  Philippines 

our  Church  in  San  Fernando  on  Christmas,  1904. 
He  was  thus  one  of  the  first  fruits  of  our  mis- 
sion in  the  Philippines. 

Mr.  Osias  made  rapid  progress  in  school,  and 
in  the  spring  of  1905  he  won,  in  a  competitive 
examination,  a  United  States  scholarship  offered 
by  the  government.  On  coming  to  the  States 
he  attended  the  McComb  Normal  School  in  Illi- 
nois, spending  his  summers  at  Chicago  Univer- 
sity. While  at  McComb  he  won  the  interstate 
oratorical  contest.  He  then  went  to  Columbia 
University,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1910. 
On  returning  to  the  Philippines,  Professor  Osias 
was  appointed  superintendent  of  schools  of  the 
district  of  Bacontan,  where  there  are  forty  teach- 
ers and  one  thousand  eight  hundred  pupils.  I 
learned  from  other  leading  educators  that  Pro- 
fessor Osias  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  pro- 
gressive teachers  in  the  Islands. 

Since  returning  to  the  Philippines,  he  has  iden- 
tified himself  actively  with  our  mission  work,  and 
is  sought  after  in  many  places  to  make  important 
religious  addresses.  In  addition  to  his  other 
work,  Professor  Osias  has  been  contributing 
strong  articles  for  the  religious  press. 

If  the  United  Brethren  Mission  had  accom- 
plished nothing  more  in  the  Philippines  than  the 
conversion  of  this  noble  Christian  leader  all  the 
lives  and  money  we  have  put  into  this  work 
would  be  well  spent. 

77 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

A  Trip  to  Annual  Conference 
The  Philippine  Annual  Conference  was  held 
at  Tubao,  February  15-18.  We  had  a  varied 
experience  journeying  from  San  Fernando  to  the 
place  of  the  annual  conference,  a  distance  of 
twenty-seven  miles.  At  eight  o'clock,  on  Thurs- 
day morning,  February  15,  a  large  covered 
wagon,  drawn  by  three  mules  and  a  horse, 
stopped  at  the  mission  house  at  San  Fernando 
for  its  cargo,  which  consisted  of  Rev.  and  Mrs. 
Widdoes,  their  five  children,  Miss  Weber,  and  a 
good  supply  of  bread,  canned  butter,  cut  beef, 
and  culinary  articles.  Mr.  Mumma  and  the 
writer  followed  a  half  hour  later,  caught  up  with 
the  first  division  at  Bawang,  seven  miles  south 
of  San  Fernando,  where  a  preaching  service  was 
held  at  9 :  30  a.m. 

Then  we  drove  seven  miles  farther  south  to 
Cava,  and  at  11:00  a.m.  laid  the  corner-stone 
of  the  new  Otterbein  Memorial  Church.  This 
church  is  named  in  honor  of  the  Otterbein  charge 
in  East  Ohio  Conference,  whose  good  people  are 
giving  one  thousand  dollars  for  its  erection.  The 
members  of  the  Cava  church  were  out  in  large 
numbers.  They  themselves  are  doing  much  to 
erect  this  cement  block  church.  After  appetiz- 
ing refreshments  in  the  hospitable  home  of  Rev. 
and  Mrs.  Abellera,  we  were  off  again  for  a  three- 
mile  drive  to  the  northern  terminus  of  the  rail- 
road at  Aringay.  From  there  we  journeyed 
by  train  to  Agoo,  five  miles  south,  hoping  at  this 

78 


The  Advancing  Philippines 

place  to  find  horses  and  carts  ready  to  take  us 
into  the  mountains  to  the  place  of  the  annual 
conference,  but  every  horse  had  been  engaged 
by  the  government  officials  for  other  purposes, 
and  so  we  all  had  to  put  up  for  the  night  in  the 
home  of  an  American  school-teacher,  and  get 
ready  for  a  start  by  daylight  the  next  morning. 
The  five  miles  from  Agoo  to  Tubao  cannot  be 
made  by  wagon  or  carriage,  there  being  no  cer- 
tain roadway,  and  so,  some  on  foot,  some  on  ox- 
cart, and  others  on  horse-back,  we  crossed  a  river 
seventeen  times  and  arrived  at  Tubao  in  time  for 
the  first  business  session  of  the  conference. 

Remarkable  Progress 

The  sessions  of  the  annual  conference  were 
held  in  a  bamboo  tabernacle  covered  with  cocoa- 
nut  leaves  for  a  roof.  The  attendance  was  large 
and  the  reports  uplifting.  After  deducting  all 
losses  for  the  year  the  communicant  membership 
increased  from  one  thousand  five  hundred  and 
seventeen  to  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
ninety-two,  or  a  net  gain  of  eighteen  per  cent. 
The  Sunday-school  enrollment  advanced  from 
eight  hundred  and  twenty-one  to  one  thousand 
four  hundred  and  eight,  or  a  gain  of  seventy  per 
cent.,  and  the  increase  in  self-support  on  the  part 
of  the  native  church  was  from  $333.37  to  $686.68. 

Wonderful  changes  have  taken  place  the  last 
six  years.  The  congregations  have  increased  in 
that  time  from  three  to  twenty-five,  and  the  mem- 

79 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

bership    from   one   hundred   and   twenty-five   to 
nearly  two  thousand  at  the  present  time. 

Three  new  churches  were  organized  in  import- 
ant places  the  past  year,  namely,  in  Manila,  where 
there  are  ten  thousand  Ilocanos  who  look  to  us 
for  the  privileges  of  the  gospel.  This  church, 
which  started  with  nineteen  members,  will  develop 
rapidly  into  what  I  believe  will  be  one  of  the 
strongest  local  churches  in  the  Philippines,  for 
there  are  a  great  many  wide-awake  Ilocanos  in 
Manila,  as  government  clerks,  stewards  in 
hotels,  and  merchants.  This  church  will  furnish 
a  field  for  active  service  on  the  part  of  our 
seminary  students  during  the  rainy  season. 

A  new  church  was  organized  at  Baguio  also 
this  year.  This  is  the  summer  capital.  A  new 
railroad  is  being  constructed  to  this  point  and 
the  population  is  destined  to  multiply  rapidly. 
The  third  church  organized  was  in  Concepcion,  a 
point  far  up  in  the  Mountain  Province— the 
farthest  advance  we  have  made  in  giving  the 
gospel  to  the. five  hundred  thousand  of  this  ter- 
ritory, many  of  whom  are  half-savage  and  are 
destitute  of  gospel  privileges. 

A  Striking  Conversion 
While  attending  the  annual  conference  at 
Tubao,  we  were  dined  in  a  home  in  which  a 
striking  conversion  had  taken  place  some  years 
ago.  A  public  school  teacher  who  had  been  led 
to  Christ  by  our  missionaries  informed  Mr.  Wid- 
80 


On    the   Way   to    Annual    Conference,    Philippines. 


San   Fernando    U.    B.    Church. 


Professor   Camilo  Osias. 

A    Filipino   layman   whose  influence  for   Christ   is   far-reaching. 


The  Advancing  Philippines 

does  that  there  was  a  man  in  this  town  by  the 
name  of  Ambrosio  Oribillo  who  would  like  to 
have  a  Bible.  Two  New  Testaments  were  sent 
him  at  once.  Some  months  later  this  man  in- 
vited the  missionary  to  visit  him,  and  after  a  ride 
of  thirty  miles  under  the  tropical  sun,  Mr.  Wid- 
does  came  to  this  home  for  the  first  time.  The 
man  greeted  him  most  cordially,  saying:  "I  am 
so  glad  you  have  come.  I  received  the  book  you 
sent  me  and  as  soon  as  I  received  it  I  read  it 
through  without  stopping." 

Mr.  Widdoes  was  greatly  surprised,  and  said, 
"How  long  did  it  take  you?" 

"Two  days  and  one  night,"  was  the  reply. 
"Oh,  it  is  a  wonderful  book,"  he  continued,  "but 
I  found  some  difficulties  which  I  cannot  under- 
stand." 

And  he  presented  the  New  Testament  with 
the  leaves  turned  down  where  there  were  difficul- 
ties and  it  seemed  that  one-half  of  the  leaves 
were  turned  over.  Then  began  a  most  earnest 
searching  for  the  truth,  which  lasted  until  eleven 
o'clock  at  night,  when  Mr.  Widdoes,  from  sheer 
fatigue  on  account  of  the  day's  journey  and  the 
taxing  labor  of  explaining  the  Bible  in  a  new 
tongue,  fell  asleep  on  the  hard  board  floor.  But 
the  Ilocano  school  teacher,  who  was  with  them, 
took  up  the  conversation  with  this  earnest  in- 
quirer, and  there  by  the  little  smoky  kerosene 
torch,  they  worked  together  during  the  rest  of 
the  night.      In  the  morning,  when  Mr.  Widdoes 

81 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

awoke,  they  were  still  eagerly  discussing  the 
wonderful  promises  in  the  Bible.  In  a  very 
short  time  this  man  was  led  to  Christ.  A  church 
was  soon  organized  in  the  town  and  this  man  be- 
came a  pioneer  in  starting  other  churches  farther 
up  in  the  mountains.  He  secured  seventy-five 
subscribers  for  our  weekly  religious  paper  and 
continued  to  be  one  of  the  most  successful  work- 
ers in  our  entire  Filipino  mission. 

After  four  years  the  dreaded  Asiatic  cholera 
made  its  appearance  in  Tubao  and  Ambrosio 
was  one  of  the  five  who  finished  his  course 
through  this  malady.  He  died  triumphant  in  the 
faith,  admonishing  his  wife  to  bring  up  their 
large  family  in  the  way  of  the  gospel. 

The  Next  Forward  Steps 

It  was  a  real  joy  to  talk  over  with  the  mission- 
aries their  past  achievements  and  to  discuss  their 
present  problems  and  future  needs.  Most  thor- 
ough investigations  were  made  which  led  up  to 
definite  recommendations  regarding  new  chapels 
and  churches. 

Our  Filipino  workers  are  making  advances 
along  two  lines :  First,  by  organizing  and  devel- 
oping their  local  churches  and  seeking  to  build 
permanent  church  buildings ;  second,  by  cultivat- 
ing the  spirit  of  missionary  extension  in  their 
conference  so  as  to  occupy  the  adjacent  Moun- 
tain Province. 

82 


The  Advancing  Philippines 

Suitable  chapels  have  already  been  erected  in 
San  Fernando,  Balaoan,  Tagudin,  and  Cava,  and 
chapels  are  in  progress  of  erection  at  Bawang 
and  Tubao. 

The  Mission  Council  in  the  Philippines  most 
earnestly  requests  that  our  Foreign  Mission 
Board  grant  them  at  least  two  thousand  dollars 
each  year  for  the  next  five  years,  to  aid  our 
Filipino  brethren  in  the  erection  of  chapels  in  the 
following  towns  in  which  ours  is  the  only  Pro- 
testant church,  and  in  which  at  present  we  have 
but  mere  temporary  shacks  or  dwelling  houses  in 
which  to  hold  religious  services: 

Agoo,  with  a  population  of  13,000;  church 
membership,  111.  San  Juan,  with  a  population 
of  12,000;  church  membership,  161.  Bacnotan, 
with  a  population  of  10,000 ;  church  membership, 
106.  Naguilian,  with  a  population  of  11,000; 
church  membership,  92.  Aringay,  with  a  popu- 
lation of  8,000;  church  membership,  11.  Sto. 
Tomas,  with  a  population  of  4,000 ;  church  mem- 
bership, 40.  Bangar,  with  a  population  of  9,000 ; 
church  membership,  55.  Cervantes,  with  a  pop- 
ulation of  2,500,  not  yet  organized.  Luna,  with 
a  population  of  11,000,  not  yet  organized. 

This  aid  in  every  instance  is  to  be  granted  only 
after  the  local  church  has  done  its  best  in  pro- 
viding materials  and  labor.  We  cannot  state  in 
advance  for  which  towns  this  help  will  first  be 
needed,  for  that  depends  upon  the  action  of  the 
83 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

local  church.     The  total  amount  needed  for  these 
chapels  is  $10,000. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  we  should  provide,  as 
soon  as  possible,  $10,000  for  suitable  lots  and 
church  buildings  in  the  city  of  Manila  and  in 
Baguio.  The  total  needed  for  new  churches  and 
chapels  is  $20,000. 

Other  Equipment  Needed 

1.  An  immediate  need  is  ground  to  be  added 
to  the  mission  compound  in  San  Fernando  in 
order  to  provide  a  suitable  site  for  the  Dea- 
coness Training  School,  the  hospital,  the  Evangel 
Press,  and  the  dormitories.  A  very  satisfactory 
property  is  under  consideration,  which  lies  adja- 
cent to  our  present  mission  property,  and  which 
could  probably  be  purchased  for  $2,500. 

2.  The  Deaconess  Training  School  has  already 
outgrown  its  present  quarters.  Because  of  the 
very  important  relation  it  bears  to  the  extension 
of  the  work  among  the  women  and  children,  a 
larger  and  more  satisfactory  building  should  be 
erected  as  soon  as  possible.  It  is  estimated  that 
this  building  will  cost  $5,000. 

3.  Within  a  year  after  the  arrival  of  the  phy- 
sician, whom  we  so  urgently  need,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  build  a  hospital.  The  people  for  the 
most  part  are  too  ignorant  to  obey  the  instructions 
of  a  physician,  and  accordingly  all  serious  cases 
should  necessarily  be  treated  in  a  hospital  in  order 

84 


The  Advancing  Philippines 

to  secure  the  best  results.      The  estimated  cost 
of  this  building  with  equipment  is  $5,000. 

4.  Since  our  printing  plant  will  soon  need 
larger  and  more  satisfactory  quarters,  it  is  recom- 
mended that  within  two  years  from  this  time  a 
concrete  building  should  be  erected  for  this  pur- 
pose at  a  probable  cost  of  $2,500,  and  a  cylinder 
press  costing  about  $1,500  should  be  secured.  In 
all  probability  this  plant  will  be  able  to  provide 
a  portion  of  the  funds  needed  for  this  latter  pur- 
pose from  its  own  income. 

5.  Because  we  believe  that  dormitories  or 
hostels  for  high-school  students  are  very  essen- 
tial, we  expect  to  continue  the  work  among  the 
students  on  an  increasingly  large  scale.  If  this 
work  continues  to  develop  as  in  the  past,  we  shall 
need,  within  three  years,  one  and  possibly  two 
dormitories  for  high-school  students,  the  cost 
of  which  is  estimated  at  $2,500  each. 

The  estimated  cost  for  all  the  above-mentioned 
buildings  and  equipment,  other  than  chapels  and 
churches,  which  should  be  provided  just  as  soon 
as  possible,  is  $19,000. 

Extension  of  Our  Territory 

To  the  north  and  east  of  Union  Province,  in 
which  we  began  our  mission  work,  is  the  great 
territory  known  at  present  as  Mountain  Province, 
containing  a  population  of  five  hundred  thousand 
people,  mostly  pagans.  This  territory  is  divided 
into  seven  sub-provinces — Benguet,  Amburayan, 
85 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

Lepanto,  Ifugao,  Kalinga,  Apayao,  and  Bontoc. 
We  have  two  organized  churches  in  Benguet  and 
seven  churches  in  Amburayan,  the  capital  of 
which  is  Tagudin.  Last  September  we  began 
work  in  Lepanto,  and  we  now  have  one  church 
there  besides  several  other  interested  congrega- 
tions. A  worker  will  soon  be  stationed  at  Cer- 
vantes, the  capital  of  Lepanto,  to  carry  the  gospel 
farther  back  into  the  mountains.  Aside  from  a 
little  work  being  done  by  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  Baguio,  Benguet,  and  the  sub-province 
of  Bontoc,  there  is  no  evangelical  work  being 
done  in  the  rest  of  this  great  Mountain  Province. 

Ifugao,  a  sub-province  containing  one  hundred 
and  twenty-seven  thousand  pagan  Igorots,  lies 
adjacent  to  our  work  in  Amburayan  and  Lepanto. 
This  territory  has  never  been  assigned  to  any 
mission  by  the  Evangelical  Union.  It  would 
naturally  fall  to  the  Methodists  or  the  United 
Brethren,  inasmuch  as  it  joins  the  territory  of 
both  these  missions.  Bishop  Oldham,  represent- 
ing the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission,  has  urged 
us  to  take  the  responsibility  of  this  Ifugao 
country. 

Our  Mission  Council  recommends  that  we  im- 
mediately push  our  operations  farther  inland, 
thus  adding  a  field  of  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  pagan  population  to  our  present  field. 

To  occupy  our  entire  field  in  any  adequate  way 
our  Philippine  Mission  needs  the  following  rein- 
forcements :     A  deaconess  to  assist  Miss  Weber 

86 


The  Advancing  Philippines 

to  carry  on  the  work  in  the  Deaconess  Training 
School ;  a  physician  and  later  a  nurse  to  minister 
to  over  three  hundred  thousand  people  who  are 
now  practically  without  the  benefit  of  such  work ; 
a  man  and  wife,  or  a  single  man  and  a  single 
woman  to  reinforce  the  general  missionary  work- 
ers. With  the  expansion  of  our  work  there  is 
danger  of  being  crippled  by  the  temporary  break- 
down of  some  of  our  missionaries.  It  is  difficult 
even  now  for  any  of  them  to  take  a  few  clays' 
vacation  on  account  of  the  pressure  work  already 
begun. 

Union  Christian  College 

The  need  of  a  Christian  college  in  the  Philip- 
pines to  provide  higher  education  under  Christian 
influence  has  become  so  pressing  that  all  of  the 
missions  laboring  in  the  islands  have  united  in 
expressing  their  desire  to  establish  such  an  insti- 
tution. A  committee  was  appointed  by  the 
Evangelical  Union  (a  union  of  the  evangelical 
missions  in  the  islands)  for  the  purpose  of  draw- 
ing up  a  constitution  and  articles  of  incorporation. 
This  constitution  and  the  accompanying  articles 
have  been  presented  to  all  the  missions  for  their 
consideration,  and  have  been  approved  by  the 
Protestant  Episcopal,  Methodist  Episcopal,  Bap- 
tist, Presbyterian,  Christian,  and  United  Brethren 
missions. 

This  constitution  provides  that  the  $130,000 
needed  to  properly  equip  and  establish  this  coK 

87 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

lege  shall  be  contributed  by  the  different  missions, 
as  follows:  The  Methodist  Episcopal  and  the 
Presbyterian,  each  $33,000;  the  Baptist,  Congre- 
gational, Christian,  Protestant  Episcopal,  and 
United  Brethren,  each  $15,000.  Each  mission 
shall  pay  two-fifths  of  its  share  at  the  time  of  the 
signing  of  the  Articles  of  Incorporation,  and  the 
remainder  in  three  annual  payments.  For  the 
United  Brethren  Mission  this  would  be  $6,000, 
to  be  contributed  in  the  beginning,  and  $3,000 
each  year  for  three  years. 

The  committee  of  the  Evangelical  Union  is 
now  seeking  to  secure  a  satisfactory  site  for  this 
Union  Christian  College. 

Union  Bible  Seminary 
This  institution  has  been  in  operation  in  Ma- 
nila for  several  years.  Our  mission  has  officially 
united  with  the  Presbyterian  and  Methodist 
Episcopal  missions  in  this  inspiring  work.  The 
only  additional  expense  to  our  mission  at  present 
will  be  the  rental  of  quarters  for  the  students. 
When  the  Christian  College  is  established  it  is 
hoped  that  the  Bible  Seminary  will  be  perma- 
nently located  in  the  vicinity  of  the  said  college, 
in  order  to  permit  the  students  of  either  institu- 
tion to  take  courses  in  the  other,  and  also  that 
certain  instructors  may  be  available  for  both. 

Other  Union  Projects 
Since  Baguio,  the  summer  capital  of  the  Phil- 
ippines, is  to  be  made  an  important  center,  it  is 

88 


Missionaries   in   the   Making,    Philippines. 


Filipino    Boys   and    Girls. 


Quarterly  Conference  and  Business   Meeting  at  Balaoan. 


cs 


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Lay   Delegates,   Philippine   Conference. 


The  Advancing  Philippines 

recommended  that  a  union  church  be  established 
in  Baguio  as  soon  as  possible.  The  probable 
outlay  from  our  mission  for  this  church  building 
will  be  $1,500. 

Our  mission  recommends  that  we  cooperate 
with  other  missions  in  the  erection  and  equipment 
of  a  hostel  at  Baguio  for  missionaries'  children, 
inasmuch  as  the  government  has  offered  to  fur- 
nish a  school  building  and  provide  a  teacher  as 
soon  as  twenty  children  are  secured  for  the 
school.      This  is  a  matter  of  great  importance. 

Missionaries  in  the  Philippines  favor  as  an 
ultimate  goal,  a  United  Evangelical  Filipino 
Church,  and  they  believe  that  the  presentation 
of  this  ideal  will  greatly  stimulate  the  progress 
of  the  gospel  and  the  establishment  of  self-sup- 
porting churches.  When  the  time  is  ripe  for  the 
organization  of  such  a  church,  all  the  missions 
should  cooperate  with  this  Filipino  Church,  until 
it  becomes  sufficiently  strong  to  support,  direct, 
and  extend  its  own  work,  thus  giving  to  these 
islands  a  pure,  aggressive,  evangelical  church. 

The  door  is  wide  open  for  the  extension  of 
our  work  in  the  Philippines.  No  mission  field 
on  earth  presents  a  more  encouraging  outlook 
than  does  this  one.  If  our  churches  in  America 
provide  at  once  the  reasonable  equipment  and 
reinforcements  called  for  in  this  report,  and 
which  our  Mission  Board  has  unanimously  voted, 
then  before  the  next  twenty-five  years  shall  have 

89 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

passed  by  we  shall  see  the  kingdom  of  God  well 
established  in  our  territory  in  the  Philippines. 

A  Closing  Word 

I  am  deeply  grateful  to  God  and  to  the  Church 
for  having  had  the  privilege  of  this  visit  to  the 
mission  fields  of  the  Orient.  More  than  can  be 
expressed  in  words  do  I  appreciate  the  devotion, 
the  ability,  and  the  unbounded  hospitality  of  our 
missionaries  in  China,  Japan,  and  the  Philippines. 
At  great  personal  sacrifice  they  cooperated  most 
heartily  to  make  the  visit  and  the  investigations 
produce  permanent  fruitage. 

I  wish  to  record  also  the  great  assistance  ren- 
dered by  Dr.  A.  T.  Howard,  who  accompanied 
me  to  China  and  the  Philippines.  His  wide 
study  of  the  ever-changing  missionary  problems 
of  the  Orient  enabled  him  to  enrich  greatly  our 
councils  and  platform  meetings. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  if  we,  as  a  Church,  put 
into  execution  at  once  the  policies  and  advance 
steps  recommended,  we  shall  exert  an  influence 
for  the  unity  and  efficiency  of  the  entire  mission- 
ary work  in  the  Orient,  far  beyond  our  numeri- 
cal and  financial  strength. 

As  I  witnessed  the  remarkable  changes  taking 
place,  there  came  to  mind  again  and  again  these 
lines : 

"God  is  working  his  purpose  out 
As  year  succeeds  to  year; 

90 


The  Advancing  Philippines 

God  is  working  his  purpose  out, 

And  the  time  is  drawing  near — 
Nearer  and  nearer  drazvs  the  time, 

The  time  that  shall  surely  be 
When  the  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  glory  of 
God 

As  the  waters  cover  the  sea." 


91 


IV. 
Ifcanttfttl  Itortn  Utrn 

Porto  Rico,  the  most  charming  of  the  islands 
of  the  western  tropics,  is  unique  in  being  our 
nearest  foreign  mission.  It  is  practically  a  for- 
eign field  in  the  homeland.  All  the  leaders  in 
that  island  with  whom  I  conferred  agreed  that 
the  customs,  traditional  beliefs,  and  degradation 
of  the  Porto  Ricans  put  them  in  a  position  of  the 
greatest  need  of  the  gospel.  The  proximity  of 
the  island  and  the  close  relationship  to  the  States 
through  commercial  intercourse  and  religious  in- 
terest, bring  to  us  at  home  corresponding  oppor- 
tunities and  responsibility. 

There  are  1,200,000  inhabitants  in  Porto  Rico, 
the  large  majority  of  whom  live  in  rural  districts 
and  know  little  or  nothing  of  Christ's  real  re- 
demptive work. 

The  Door  Wide  Open 

Until  fourteen  years  ago,  Spain,  in  conjunction 
with  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  had  kept  the 
door  closed  against  other  nations  and  religions. 
Her  exclusiveness  was  almost  equal  to  that  of 
ancient  Judaism ;  no  independence  or  religious 
liberty  was  allowed.  Behind  that  closed  door 
were  Spanish  tyranny  and  ecclesiastical  oppres- 
sion, which  kept  the  people  in  abject  poverty, 
dense  ignorance,  and  social  degradation ;  but  God, 

92 


Beautiful  Porto  Rico 

in  his  providence,  opened  that  closed  door  in 
1898,  when  the  island  passed  into  the  hands  of 
the  United  States  Government.  The  people, 
weary  of  Spanish  injustice  and  priesthood  degen- 
eracy, were  ready  and  waiting  for  Protestant 
Christianity,  so  that  now  the  leading  citizens,  as 
a  rule,  actually  hate  the  Catholic  Church,  and 
the  mass  of  the  people  are  hungry  for  the  gospel 
and  the  Christ. 

This  is  the  day  of  opportunity  for  the  evan- 
gelization of  Porto  Rico  and  for  the  educational, 
social,  moral,  and  religious  transformation  of  the 
people  of  that  interesting  island.  Even  Catholi- 
cism has  been  deeply  stirred  by  the  aggressiveness 
and  success  of  the  missionaries,  and  is  now  trying 
to  reform  herself.  The  sooner  we  evangelize 
Porto  Rico  with  the  gospel  and  win  the  people  to 
Christ,  the  more  surely  will  Porto  Rico  be  free 
from  the  tightening  grasp  of  Catholicism  and  be 
able  to  propagate  the  Christian  religion  to  the 
islands  that  sit  by  her  side. 

Inspection  of  the  Field 

During  my  visit  it  was  both  my  pleasure  and 
profit  to  see  much  of  the  island.  Railroads,  auto- 
mobiles, and  coaches  transport  one  over  the  great 
roadways,  along  which  are  towns,  villages,  and 
playas ;  but  it  requires  much  walking  and  riding 
on  Porto  Rican  horses  to  witness  the  phases  of 
life  in  the  mountain  barrios.  A  visitor  may  travel 
only  over  the  magnificent  thoroughfares  of  the 
93 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

island  and  stop  at  the  cities  as  some  have  done, 
and  get  no  idea  of  the  real  situation  of  the  mul- 
titudes. I  rode  with  our  mission  workers  for 
days  up  into  the  mountains  and  down  to  the 
playas,  where  I  preached  in  chapels  and  got  an 
impression  of  the  Christians  in  worship,  as  well 
as  the  needs  and  degradation  of  the  lower  classes. 
A  like  condition  of  physical  and  social  degra- 
dation appeared  in  the  back  streets  of  the  cities. 
One  night  I  accompanied  Mr.  Drury  to  one  of 
the  densely  populated  portions  of  the  city  of 
Ponce,  where  his  men's  Bible  class  held  a  reli- 
gious service  in  the  presence  of  poor,  ignorant 
people,  who  pressed  to  the  door  and  strained  their 
necks  to  hear  the  gospel  in  sermon  and  song.  To 
appreciate  fully  the  needs  and  appealing  condition 
of  the  people,  one  must  visit  the  island  in  person. 

The  Splendid  Work  of  Our  Government 

The  United  States  Government  is  doing  much 
to  develop  the  natural  resources  of  the  island  and 
to  uplift  and  educate  the  people  in  the  elements 
of  American  citizenship.  Her  splendid  public- 
school  system,  including  the  University  of  Porto 
Rico,  besides  schools  of  domestic  science,  agricul- 
ture, manual  training,  in  addition  to  the  all-im- 
portant and  excellent  work  of  the  Christian  mis- 
sionaries, are  tending  to  prepare  the  people  for 
independence  and  self-government.  Porto  Ricans 
are  not  fully  ready  for  such  government  now,  but 
they  will  be  ready  in  the  not  distant  future. 

94 


Beautiful  Porto  Rico 

Seeing  a  Porto  Rican  one  day  away  up  in  the 
mountains  studying  American  history  and  read- 
ing the  lives  of  such  American  heroes  and  leaders 
as  Franklin,  Webster,  Washington,  Lincoln, 
Grant,  and  McKinley  in  English,  I  was  convinced 
that  in  the  future  Porto  Rico  will  be  so  developed, 
improved,  enlightened,  and  Christianized  that  it 
will  become  a  self-governing  colony,  and  add 
another  star  to  the  States. 

The  General  Religious  Situation 

While  the  evangelization  of  Porto  Rico  can,  of 
course,  never  be  accomplished  without  the  direct 
preaching  of  Christ  and  his  gospel,  yet  the  Chris- 
tian teacher,  the  Christian  doctor,  and  the  Chris- 
tian business  man  are  very  helpful  in  reen forcing 
the  missionaries  and  in  laying  foundations  for 
permanent  success. 

One  of  the  shameful  influences  that  operates 
to  the  detriment  and  difficulty  of  the  Christian 
worker  in  Porto  Rico  now  is  the  fact  that  so 
many  godless  Americans,  who  are  on  the  island 
for  mercenary  purposes  only,  represent  in  their 
lives  low  moral  and  social  ideals. 

But  the  successes  achieved  during  the  years  of 
missionary  operation  far  outweigh  the  discour- 
agements. The  religious  statistics  of  the  evan- 
gelical missions  of  the  island  show  one  hundred 
and  seventy-nine  pastors,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
assistants,  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  church 
organizations,    two    hundred    and    eighty    Bible 

95 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

schools  with  fifteen  thousand  one  hundred  and 
forty-nine  scholars,  one  hundred  and  thirty-two 
church  houses  and  chapels  with  eleven  thousand 
three  hundred  and  fifty-nine  members  in  full 
communion,  the  value  of  church  property  being 
$682,987. 

Our  United  Brethren  Mission 

The  location  of  our  mission  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  island,  with  its  headquarters  at  Ponce, 
is  most  excellent.  It  is  probably  the  most  com- 
pact mission  field  on  the  island.  Besides  Ponce, 
a  city  of  30,000  inhabitants,  our  mission  territory 
includes  the  towns  of  Yauco,  Juana  Diaz,  Pen- 
uelas,  and  Guayanilla.  These  constitute  the  five 
districts  under  the  superintendency  of  Rev.  P.  W. 
Drury,  including  contiguous  rural  territory,  in 
which  are  many  chapels  and  other  places  where 
our  American  and  native  workers  hold  services. 

Thirteen  years  ago,  Rev.  N.  H.  Huffman  and 
his  wife  were  our  only  missionaries  on  the  island. 
We  had  no  property,  no  buildings,  no  organiza- 
tions, no  annual  conference.  Now  we  have  nine 
American  missionaries,  eighteen  Porto  Rican 
preachers  and  deaconesses,  fifteen  organized 
churches,  thirty-two  other  preaching  places,  thir- 
teen chapels  and  church  buildings,  thirty  Sunday 
schools  with  an  enrollment  of  one  thousand  five 
hundred  and  thirty-eight,  and  one  thousand  and 
sixty-six  members  in  full  communion,  besides 
about   five   hundred    who   are   candidates   being 

96 


Public   School,  Juana  Diaz. 


Coming   Porto   Rican   Citizens. 
The  band  of  the  Yauco  Public  School. 


Beautiful  Porto  Rico 

trained  for  full  membership.  The  value  of  our 
church  property  is  $40,000.  The  total  contribu- 
tions for  the  past  year  from  our  churches  in 
Porto  Rico  was  $2,197.81. 

Early  in  the  past  year  a  site  for  our  mission 
headquarters  at  Ponce  was  purchased  at  a  cost 
of  three  thousand  dollars.  It  is  situated  near 
our  church,  on  the  same  street.  Then,  with  the 
two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  granted  by  the 
Board,  a  neat,  commodious  residence  was  erected 
on  that  site.  It  has  nine  rooms,  with  modern 
conveniences.  Our  printing  office  also  is  on  the 
new  premises.  The  plant  is  ideal,  and  with  our 
church  in  Ponce  gives  us  permanent  and  conven- 
ient headquarters. 

We  have  a  charming  rest  home,  the  Mt.  Her- 
mon  Cottage,  situated  two  thousand  feet  above 
the  Caribbean  Sea,  in  the  mountains,  twelve  miles 
from  Ponce,  on  the  fine  roadway  to  Arecibo.  It 
was  erected  with  the  contributions  from  the  Wom- 
an's Missionary  Association  of  our  Church.  It 
is  the  best  and  most  delightful  investment  I  ever 
saw  for  the  sum  of  $1,000.  It  was  our  privilege 
to  spend  a  few  days  in  that  health-restoring 
mountain  home,  with  its  exhilarating  atmosphere 
and  beautiful  scenery. 

There  are  two  medical  dispensaries  carried  on 
under  the  auspices  of  our  mission.  The  one  is 
at  Yauco,  in  connection  with  Rev.  N.  H.  Huff- 
man's pastorate ;  the  other  at  Coto  Laurel,  under 
the  direction   of   Superintendent  Drury.       Hun- 

97 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

dreds  of  afflicted  men,  women,  and  children  come 
to  those  dispensaries  for  physical  help  and  relief. 
Christian  physicians  from  the  States  give  their 
services  free,  and  special  funds  are  provided  on 
the  island  without  any  expense  to  the  mission. 
The  method  of  medical  missionary  work,  in 
which  the  hearts  of  the  people  are  won  to  Christ 
and  the  Church  through  the  power  of  practical 
Christianity,  greatly  commends  itself  to  all  broad 
Christian  workers. 

An  Aggressive  Annual  Conference 

It  was  my  privilege  to  preside  over  our  Porto 
Rico  Annual  Conference,  January  12-14,  at 
Ponce.  I  received  a  royal  welcome  from  all  the 
workers.  The  attendance  was  large  and  the 
interest  high  to  the  end.  The  report  of  the 
superintendent  showed  an  advance  along  all  lines 
in  accessions,  Sunday-school  enrollment,  finances, 
new  preaching  places,  and  developed  strength  in 
the  local  churches. 

The  spirit  of  enthusiasm,  fellowship,  and  ag- 
gressive action  prevailed  throughout  the  sessions. 
The  addresses  of  Superintendent  Drury  and  all 
the  American  and  native  workers  were  of  high 
order,  and  were  worthy  of  an  annual  conference 
of  our  Church  in  the  States.  Though  spoken  in 
Spanish,  the  addresses  were  all  translated  to  me 
in  English. 

Our  American  missionaries,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  P. 
W.  Drury,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  N.  H.  Huffman,  Mr. 

98 


Beautiful  Porto  Rico 

and  Mrs.  I.  E.  Caldwell,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  I. 
Mohler,  and  Miss  Elizabeth  Reed,  are  all  persons 
of  fine  character  and  excellent  ability;  well 
trained  and  thoroughly  consecrated  to  the  cause 
of  Christ  in  their  field,  they  have  no  superiors 
on  the  island.  They  profoundly  impressed  me 
as  men  and  women  of  God,  rich  in  experience, 
mighty  in  the  Word,  and  heroic  in  their  passion 
to  win  the  people  to  Christ. 

The  native  workers  also  are  consecrated,  loyal 
Christians.  They  are  intelligent,  efficient  preach- 
ers and  deaconesses.  Many  of  them  have  been 
trained  in  the  high  schools  of  Porto  Rico,  and 
therefore  command  the  respect  of  the  public. 
Our  church  houses  and  chapels  are  well  con- 
structed and  kept  clean  and  attractive. 

Both  the  American  and  native  missionaries  are 
hard,  self-sacrificing  workers.  Every  day  in  the 
week  they  visit  in  the  cities  and  ride  over  the 
rough  mountain  sides  to  preach  in  chapels  and 
carry  the  gospel  into  private  homes. 

Our  Porto  Rican  Christians  are  being  taught 
the  principles  of  Christian  stewardship,  and  are 
being  trained  to  honor  the  Lord  with  a  weekly 
offering  for  the  support  and  extension  of  the 
gospel.  Considering  the  poverty  of  the  people, 
excellent  progress  is  being  made.  During  the 
past  year  a  new  chapel  was  erected  at  Rubias  in 
the  Yauco  municipal  district,  with  offerings  from 
the  native  Christians,  and  at  the  annual  confer- 
ence this  year  a  special  subscription  of  $225  was 

99 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

taken.  This,  with  church  extension  money  on 
hand,  assured  the  erection  of  another  chapel, 
which  will  be  the  fifth  built  with  funds  contrib- 
uted by  the  churches  of  our  mission.  The  total 
contributions  towards  self-support  during  1911 
amounted  to  $2,197.81,  an  increase  for  the  year 
of  over  twenty-five  per  cent. 

A  great  evangelistic  campaign  was  planned  for 
by  the  annual  conference,  and  the  goal  of  "1,000 
souls  for  Christ"  was  adopted  for  this  year. 
Within  three  months  after  the  conference,  the 
superintendent  reported  that  three  hundred  and 
fifty  persons  had  publicly  professed  their  faith 
in  Jesus  Christ.  The  pastors  have  organized 
these  persons  into  classes  for  the  purpose  of  giv- 
ing them  the  instruction  necessary  before  they 
enter  into  full  membership. 

Missionary  Co-operation 

Missionary  comity  on  the  island  is  a  feature  of 
great  practical  interest.  It  needs  to  be  rigidly  and 
conscientiously  adhered  to.  The  needs  are  so 
great  and  the  degraded  condition  of  the  thou- 
sands in  the  mountain  barrios  and  back  streets 
of  the  towns  is  so  appalling  and  even  shocking 
that  there  must  be  no  duplication  of  agencies  or 
waste  of  religious  energy  or  money. 

I  found  a  general  agreement  and  cooperation 
upon  the  part  of  the  evangelical  denominations 
operating  on  the  island.  All  the  cities  are  open 
to  any  denomination,  but  the  general  division  of 

100 


Beautiful  Porto  Rico 

territory  is  as  follows :  The  Presbyterians  occupy 
the  west  portion;  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ 
the  adjoining  territory  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  island,  with  Ponce  as  headquarters ;  the  Meth- 
odists and  Baptists  the  central  portion ;  the  Con- 
gregationalists  the  east;  and  the  Lutherans  the 
north.  There  is  also  an  interdenominational 
council,  which  encourages  general  fraternization 
and  cooperation. 

It  is  clear  in  Porto  Rico  that  a  united  Catholi- 
cism has  the  advantage  over  a  divided  Protestant- 
ism, and  the  sectarian  divisions  are  an  element  of 
weakness  in  all  missionary  enterprises.  Dr. 
Howard  B.  Grose,  who  made  a  careful  survey  of 
the  missionary  outlook  of  Porto  Rico,  expresses 
it  in  a  nutshell :  "A  united  Porto  Rico  Protest- 
antism is  the  only  force  that  can  successfully  op- 
pose the  Catholic  Church  and  redeem  the  island." 

Two  Union  Projects 

I  was  charged  by  our  Foreign  Board  to  nego- 
tiate with  the  Presbyterians  and  Congregational- 
ists  respecting  a  closer  federation  with  our  de- 
nomination in  regard  to  a  union  printing  plant 
and  a  union  theological  seminary.  I  am  happy 
to  report  favorable  results  from  these  confer- 
ences. 

The  first  issue  of  the  union  paper,  "Puerto 
Rico  Evangelico,"  was  published  July  10,  1912. 
It  is  a  semi-monthly  publication  of  sixteen  pages, 
issued   on   the   tenth   and   twenty-fifth   of   each 

101 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

month.  It  is  printed  on  our  United  Brethren 
press  at  Ponce,  with  Rev.  Philo  W.  Drury  as 
general  editor  and  manager  and  with  associate 
editors  from  the  other  two  denominations.  The 
subscription  price  is  fifty  cents  a  year.  The  aim 
is  to  secure  3,000  subscribers  and  thus  make  the 
paper  self-supporting  by  the  end  of  the  year. 

This  consummation  of  the  plans  for  this  union 
printing  plant  is  a  cause  for  much  thanksgiving. 
The  circulation  of  this  common  organ  will  bind 
the  hearts  of  the  Porto  Rican  Christians  together 
and  help  to  hasten  the  establishment  of  the  king- 
dom in  the  island. 

The  plan  for  the  proposed  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  to  be  located  at  Mayaguez,  has  been 
agreed  upon  by  the  representatives  of  the  Pres- 
byterian and  United  Brethren  missions,  and  is 
being  considered  by  the  members  of  the  Congre- 
gational Mission.  The  school  property  will  be 
held  jointly.  Our  share  of  responsibility  will  be 
no  more  than  $4,000  in  cash  and  the  furnishing 
of  one  of  our  missionaries  as  a  member  of  the 
faculty,  giving  half  of  his  time  to  that  work.  In 
the  meantime  the  Presbyterians  have  generously 
agreed  to  receive  our  native  workers  into  their 
school  for  training  until  this  union  enterprise 
shall  be  consummated. 

Such  a  union  training  school  as  is  proposed  is 
a  great  necessity  for  the  thorough  training  of  all 
native  workers  on  the  island,  and  it  will  be  both 

102 


Beautiful  Porto  Rico 

in  the  interest  of  economy  and  broad  missionary 
federation. 

Another  Open  Door 

Superintendent  Drury  and  Rev.  N.  H.  Huff- 
man, last  September,  visited  Santo  Domingo, 
and  found  there  a  door  which  God  has  evidently 
opened  to  the  Christian  missionary.  The  island 
is  only  fifty-five  miles  from  Porto  Rico,  a  few 
hours'  ride  from  Mayaguez.  It  has  a  population 
of  600,000.  Its  territory  is  eight  times  the  size 
of  Porto  Rico.  The  people  are  as  needy  of  the 
gospel  as  the  Porto  Ricans,  and  wholly  unevan- 
gelized.  The  urgency  for  entering  that  open 
door  at  once  rests  upon  the  following  arguments : 

1.  Its  close  proximity  to  Porto  Rico,  being 
but  fifty-five  miles  away. 

2.  Its  need  of  the  gospel. 

3.  Fifteen  thousand  Porto  Ricans  are  living 
on  that  island  now.  In  ten  or  fifteen  years,  ac- 
cording to  the  present  rate  of  increase,  the  popu- 
lation of  Porto  Rico  will  reach  two  millions, 
which  will  be  beyond  its  supporting  resources  and 
opportunities.  Emigration  will  become  a  neces- 
sity, and  the  outflow  will  naturally  be  to  Santo 
Domingo,  where  their  kindred  have  settled.  It 
is  easy  even  now  to  interest  Christian  Porto 
Ricans  in  the  evangelization  of  that  island.  Some 
are  already  offering  their  services  as  missionaries. 

4.  This  open  door  can  be  more  economically 
entered    from   Porto   Rico   rather  than   directly 

103 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

from  the  States.  It  can  easily  be  under  the 
administration  of  our  superintendent  in  Porto 
Rico.  It  would  simply  widen  our  field  in  the 
Antilles,  with  the  addition  at  present  of  one  more 
missionary  and  probably  a  trained  consecrated 
Porto  Rican. 

5.  Last,  but  not  least,  is  the  argument  of  an 
objective.  Everything  is  favorable  for  the  evan- 
gelization of  Porto  Rico  within  the  present  gen- 
eration, if  the  proper  equipment  and  the  neces- 
sary workers  are  secured.  For  self-preservation 
and  the  maintenance  of  the  spiritual  results  of 
the  investment  of  personality,  sacrifice,  and 
money  put  into  Porto  Rico,  there  must  be  a  com- 
manding objective.  The  outflow  of  Christian 
life  in  that  land  must  be  as  unselfish  as  it  is  in 
any  Christian  country  under  the  law  of  divine 
love. 

Our  Porto  Rico  Annual  Conference  last  Jan- 
uary requested  our  Church  to  take  action  toward 
the  starting  of  missionary  operations  in  Santo 
Domingo,  pledging  itself  to  pay  five  hundred  dol- 
lars during  the  year,  beginning  with  January, 
1913,  "provided  the  board  deems  it  possible  and 
wise  to  open  up  work  there  next  year."  This 
call  to  advance  comes  as  a  great  challenge  to 
our  denomination. 

Pressing  Needs 

There  is  imperative  need  for  a  church  building 
in  Yauco,  the  center  of  the  Yauco  municipal  dis- 
104 


Beautiful  Porto  Rico 

trict.  Our  growing  congregation  in  that  thriving 
town  is  struggling  with  wholly  inadequate  mate- 
rial means  for  the  carrying  on  of  its  important 
work.  This  should  take  precedence  of  all  other 
building  enterprises.  Seven  thousand  dollars 
should  be  made  available  for  this  church  house 
just  as  soon  as  possible. 

Other  needs  now  pressing  include  our  share  in 
the  Union  Training  School  at  Mayaguez,  $4,000 ; 
the  enlargement  of  present  church  buildings  and 
the  erection  of  small  chapels,  $2,000;  missionary 
residence  at  Juan  Diaz,  $2,100;  ground  and  mis- 
sionary residence  at  Penuelas,  $2,500 ;  total  needs 
for  new  buildings  and  grounds,  $23,100. 

A  Closing  Word 

In  closing  this  report  of  my  visit  to  Porto  Rico, 
I  wish  to  express  my  profound  appreciation  of 
the  prayers  and  sympathy  of  our  Church,  both  in 
Porto  Rico  and  in  the  States.  I  am  grateful  to 
God  for  the  marvelous  preservation  of  our  lives 
on  the  sea,  and  for  whatever  helpful  service  we 
were  enabled  to  perform  for  our  noble  heroic 
workers  of  that  interesting  island. 

My  heart  goes  out  for  the  redemption  of  that 
"Garden  Spot"  of  the  West  Indies.  Our  denom- 
ination has  done  nobly  in  the  past,  but  the  present 
opportunities  call  for  larger  financial  support  of 
the  work  and  for  more  earnest  prayer  for  spirit- 
ual victories.  The  fields  are  ripe  to  harvest. 
There  is  no  doubt  about  the  outcome,  if  the  work 
105 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

is  pushed  vigorously  now.  Our  missionaries  are 
battling  nobly  against  the  mighty  forces  of  ignor- 
ance, superstition,  and  evil,  but  God  has  prom- 
ised that  the  isles  shall  wait  for  him  and  on  his 
arm  shall  they  trust,  so  victory  is  assured.  Let 
us  all  stir  ourselves  to  come  up  to  the  help  of  the 
Lord  against  the  mighty  and  thus  win  Porto  Rico 
for  our  Christ. 


106 


V. 


The  United  Brethren  Church  has  heard  the 
call  of  God  for  laborers  in  lands  across  the  seas. 
Sixty-six  of  our  noblest  sons  and  daughters  are 
now  witnessing  for  Christ  in  West  Africa,  Japan, 
China,  the  Philippines,  and  Porto  Rico.  No 
other  denomination  has  better  missionaries. 
Seven  of  our  workers  have  yielded  their  lives  as 
martyrs  for  the  gospel.  All  of  them  have  so 
wrought  for  the  transformation  of  our  foreign 
fields  as  to  call  forth  the  admiration  of  the  whole 
Church. 

Though  much  of  the  labor  of  the  past,  of  ne- 
cessity, has  been  preparatory — such  as  the  mas- 
tery of  new  languages,  the  adaptation  of  the  work- 
ers to  new  conditions,  and  the  development  of  a 
native  ministry — there  has  appeared  already  a 
large  fruitage,  as  the  following  table  shows : 

Seven  Years'  Growth  Abroad 

1905  1912  Incr. 

Foreign  missionaries   31  66  113% 

Communicant  members 1,429  4,868  240% 

Sunday-school  enrollment   ....   2,243  6,026  170% 

Native  gifts  for  self-support... $4,338  $13,239  200% 

The  growth  of  our  work  abroad  has  produced 

a  new  challenge.      It  is  now  necessary  for  us  to 

plan  for  the  complete  occupancy  of  our  territory 

by  Christian  workers,  and  for  the  equipment  of 

107 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

the  various  departments  of  the  work  in  order  to 
insure  the  training  and  efficiency  needed. 

Searching  investigations  were  made  and  nu- 
merous councils  were  held  with  the  missionaries 
in  Porto  Rico,  Japan,  China,  and  the  Philippines, 
by  Bishop  Mathews  and  the  General  Secretary 
of  the  Foreign  Board  in  their  recent  visits  to 
these  fields.  As  a  result,  the  missionaries  make 
two  urgent  requests  of  the  home  churches.  First, 
that  we  send  out  soon  eighteen  additional  mis- 
sionaries to  assist  in  training  a  larger  force  of 
native  leaders,  and  to  open  gospel  work  in  pagan 
districts  which  range  in  population  from  one 
hundred  thousand  to  five  hundred  thousand. 
The  second  request  is  for  the  equipment  of  the 
excellent  work  already  begun. 

The  call  is  for  twenty-seven  chapels,  eight 
missionary  residences,  one  hospital,  one  dispen- 
sary, and  five  school  buildings,  namely,  a  build- 
ing for  the  new  grammer  school  for  boys  in 
China,  a  building  for  the  larger  Miller  Seminary 
for  girls  in  China,  our  share  of  the  union  train- 
ing school  building  in  Porto  Rico,  a  deaconess 
training  school  building  in  the  Philippines,  and 
our  share  of  a  union  Christian  college  for  the 
Philippines — the  erection  of  these  buildings  to 
cover  a  period  of  from  three  to  five  years.  The 
total  cost  for  the  new  buildings  and  equipment 
will  be  $207,350.  It  is  highly  important  that 
$60,000  of  this  building  fund  should  be  forth- 

108 


What  Shall  Be  Our  Response 

coming  immediately,  that  the  buildings  urgently 
needed  may  be  started  at  once. 

It  is  the  conviction  of  the  missionaries  on  the 
field  and  those  who  made  these  visits  that  the 
program  recommended  is  the  will  of  God  for  our 
work  abroad  at  this  time.  After  the  visitation 
in  Africa,  soon  to  be  made,  a  statement  will  be 
given  of  the  needs  of  that  field. 

The  deputations  brought  the  call  of  the  mis- 
sionaries for  this  enlargement  of  work  to  the 
recent  Board  meeting  at  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  and 
after  carefully  considering  it,  the  bishops  and 
directors  of  the  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
unanimously  approved  the  report  and  expressed 
their  conviction  in  these  words : 

"This  program  calling  for  new  missionaries 
and  equipment  abroad  should  call  out  the  most 
heroic  efforts  ever  put  forth  by  any  of  our  local 
churches  for  this  zvork.  In  our  own  strength  it 
will  be  utterly  impossible  to  accomplish  it;  but 
our  God  is  able.  We  call  upon  every  pastor,  as 
he  presents  these  needs  to  his  people,  that  he 
challenge  them  to  give  themselves  as  never  before 
to  the  mighty  ministry  of  intercession,  as  well  as 
to  the  complete  consecration  of  themselves  and 
their  gifts  to  this  end." 
What  Will  the  Pastors  and  Churches  Do 

The  missionaries  on  the  field  have  acted.    The 

Board  of  Foreign  Missions  has  acted.     The  call 

now  comes  to  the  conference  superintendents,  the 

pastors,  local  churches,  and  individual  men  and 

109 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

women  in  our  churches.  What  will  you  do 
with  it? 

Dr.  A.  T.  Howard  has  been  appointed  super- 
intendent of  the  Orient  to  cooperate  with  the 
missionaries  in  Japan,  China,  and  the  Philippines 
to  carry  out  the  immense  work  outlined  for  these 
fields.  They  are  now  at  work  securing  building 
sites.  The  Board  members  are  at  work  doing 
their  part  to  reach  the  goal. 

If  the  pastors  and  all  the  local  churches  act 
promptly  and  adequately,  we  shall  have  a  united, 
powerful  movement  to  evangelize  our  share  of 
the  non-Christian  world.  This  generation  of 
United  Brethren  never  before  faced  such  an 
opportunity.  Let  us  go  up  at  once  and  possess 
the  land  for  Christ,  for  we  are  well  able  to  do  it. 

The  Cost 

1.  It  will  cost  earnest  thought  and  hard  work. 
To  inform  the  ignorant  in  our  home  churches,  to 
awaken  the  indifferent,  to  enlist  the  prejudiced, 
and  to  get  every  member  to  read  this  call  and 
act  upon  it  will  be  no  easy  task.  Pastors  and 
laymen  whose  hearts  are  gripped  by  the  facts 
presented  in  this  book  have  hard  work  to  do. 

We  must  constantly  remember  that  the  foreign 
missionary  enterprise  is  no  child's  play.  Our 
missionaries  are  hazarding  their  very  lives  for 
Jesus'  sake  and  some  of  them  are  breaking  under 
the  strain  of  their  work.  One  who  has  been  fight- 
ing malaria  while  carrying  the  work  of  two  men, 
110 


What  Shall  Be  Our  Response 

writes :  "I  cannot  see  any  prospects  of  relief. 
We  cannot  let  go  anywhere  without  endangering 
results.  You  know  we  are  now  in  the  hot  season 
when  travel  and  toil  produce  severe  strain.  I 
do  not  know  how  long  I  shall  be  able  to  stand 
this." 

Heroic  labor  for  this  cause  must  not  be  con- 
fined to  those  at  the  front  To  create  an  atmos- 
phere in  our  home  churches  for  world  evangeli- 
zation, and  to  achieve  increasing  success  for  this 
work  right  through  a  series  of  years,  requires 
courage,  wisdom,  and  perseverance.  A  high 
grade  of  pastoral  leadership  and  first-class  lay 
cooperation  are  absolutely  essential. 

2.  It  will  cost  fervent,  continuous  praying. 
Not  by  unaided  human  effort,  but  by  the  power 
of  God  is  this  work  promoted.  Prayer  is  the 
agency  that  couples  Christ's  power  to  the  work. 
Our  missionaries  recognize  this  need  and  are 
calling  us  to  prayer.  A  letter  from  Africa  just 
received  voices  this  call :  "The  devil  is  marshal- 
ling all  his  strong  forces  against  Africa.  Danger 
signals  are  sounding.  I  hear  the  tread  of  the 
feet  of  Satan's  advancing  army  and  we  must  get 
ready  for  the  battle.  If  it  were  in  my  power 
to  do  so,  I  would  have  the  whole  Church  on  her 
knees  for  Africa."  Similar  appeals  come  from 
the  other  fields.  Therefore,  let  us  pray  as  never 
before  for  the  missionaries  and  the  work  abroad. 

Pray  also  for  the  bishops,  conference  super- 
intendents,   and    your    own    pastor    that    these 

111 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

leaders  may  discern  God's  will  in  this  unprece- 
dented call,  and  stand  for  such  a  program  of 
work  as  shall  enable  every  local  church  and  every 
member  in  our  denomination  to  do  a  great  work 
for  God.  Pray!  for  God  will  hear  and  answer 
prayer.  Prayer  alone  will  transmute  informa- 
tion into  inspiration,  and  coin  interest  into  pur- 
pose, plan,  money,  and  lives  ready  to  obey  God. 

3.  It  will  cost  money.  It  is  more  difficult 
and  costly  to  pray  aright  for  the  work  and  work- 
ers than  to  give  money  to  this  cause,  but  every 
Christian  should  do  both.  Money  can  work 
where  the  giver  cannot.  It  can  speak  the  gospel 
through  every  language  where  missionaries  are 
at  work.  It  can  build  chapels  and  hospitals. 
Money  is  a  mighty  factor  in  prompting  the  king- 
dom of  God. 

To  meet  the  extraordinary  situation  which  now 
confronts  our  Church  abroad,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  annually  for  the  regular 
work  of  the  various  departments  of  foreign  mis- 
sions will  be  required,  or  an  increase  of  fifty  per 
cent,  in  our  gifts  to  this  cause. 

In  addition  to  this  there  is  the  call  for  $207,350 
for  grounds,  buildings,  and  equipment.  This 
may  seem  a  large  sum,  but  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  these  new  buildings  will  supply  the 
need  in  four  of  our  foreign  fields  where  there 
are  four  million  people  to  be  reached.  The  total 
amount  asked  for  is  less  than  the  cost  of  three 
United  Brethren  churches  in  this  country  dedi- 

112 


El  Pino  U.   B.   Chapel. 

Built  with  funds  contributed  by  the  Porto  Rican  United 

Brethren    Churches. 


Mt.   Hermon  Rest  Cottage,   Porto  Rico. 
The  gift  of  our  loyal  women  in  the  States. 


What  Shall  Be  Our  Response 

cated  this  year.      We  are  not  asking  one  local 
church  to  supply  this  need,  but  the  entire  denom- 
ination, and  that  within  a  period  of  five  years. 
Nothing  could  bring  a  greater  blessing  to  the 
three  hundred  thousand  members  of  the  United 
Brethren   Church   in    America  than   the   whole- 
hearted acceptance  of  this  call  as  the  least  we 
dare  attempt  in  this  day  of  golden  opportunity. 
It  is  said  that  two-thirds  of  the  human  race 
live  in  the  darkness  of  non-Christian  lands.    But 
a  serious  fact  nearer  home  is  this,  that  two-thirds 
of  the  members  of  our  churches  in  America  are 
without  a  vision  of  the  world's  need,  and  have 
no  serious  regard  or  recognition  of  God's  right- 
ful claim  upon  their  money  and  their  talents,  and 
hence  they  give  but  little  or  nothing  for  the  ex- 
tension   of    the    kingdom    of    God    at    home    or 
abroad.      Has  not  God  himself  brought  us  face 
to  face  with  this  mighty  task  abroad  to  drive  us 
to  our  knees,  to  a  confession  of  our  sins  and 
indifference,  to  restored  fellowship  with  himself, 
and  to  the  discovery  of  our  mighty  resources  in 
Jesus  Christ? 

This  call  from  abroad  coupled  with  the  larger 
aim  for  our  colleges,  seminary,  and  home  mis- 
sionary work  in  America  will  constitute  the  out- 
let, the  very  draft  necessary  to  cause  the  Chris- 
tian stewardship  fires  that  are  now  smouldered 
in  our  churches  to  blaze  forth  into  a  white  heat. 
Thousands  of  our  people,  where  now  only  hun- 
dreds are  doing  it,  will  bring  their  tithes  and 
113 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

free-will  offerings  to  the  altars  of  our  churches, 
and  we  shall  have  sufficient  money  not  only  for 
these  needs  abroad,  but  for  the  adequate  equip- 
ment and  endowment  of  our  schools  and  for  the 
enlargement  of  all  the  work  in  America.  The 
leaders  of  the  Church  are  responsible  for  putting 
before  the  whole  membership  such  tasks  as  will 
admit  of  no  excuse  for  withholding  from  the 
Lord  the  tithes  and  free-will  offerings. 

Every  member  of  the  Church  should  have  a 
share  in  gifts  for  the  regular  work  abroad. 
Some  can  give  one  hundred  dollars,  others  fifty, 
twenty-five,  ten,  and  five  dollars  annually,  and 
the  goal  will  be  reached. 

To  provide  the  new  buildings  and  equipment 
called  for,  there  are  individual  men  and  women 
in  many  of  the  congregations  who  will  be  glad 
to  give  a  thousand  dollars,  or  two  thousand  five 
hundred  dollars  to  erect  a  memorial  church  in 
the  midst  of  ten  thousand  or  twenty-five  thousand 
people  abroad  where  ours  is  the  only  Christian 
church. 

The  layman  from  Iowa  who  sent  us  last  year 
a  check  for  four  thousand  five  hundred  dollars 
to  build  a  hospital  in  Siu  Lam,  China,  has  done 
a  work  that  will  witness  for  God  from  genera- 
tion to  generation.  Surely  God  will  stir  the 
heart  of  some  one  to  send  us  five  thousand  dol- 
lars for  the  new  hospital  now  needed  in  the 
Philippine  Islands  to  provide  medical  treatment 

114 


What  Shall  Be  Our  Response 

for  three  hundred  thousand  destitute  people  in 
our  district. 

4.  It  will  cost  lives.  We  need  eighteen  new 
missionaries.  When  these  are  sent  abroad  we 
shall  have  eighty-four  foreign  missionaries  in  the 
midst  of  five  million  people,  or  one  missionary 
to  every  sixty  thousand  to  be  evangelized.  This 
will  mean  the  sending  out  of  but  one  missionary 
for  every  three  thousand  five  hundred  of  our 
Church  membership  in  United  States.  Can  we 
not  spare  one  out  of  three  thousand  five  hundred 
for  this  important  work?  And  will  not  those 
who  remain  at  home  be  enriched  in  faith  and 
good  works  by  the  obedience  of  those  who  go  to 
the  front? 

John  R.  Mott  says:  "No  better  thing  could 
happen  on  behalf  of  our  city  and  rural  evangeli- 
zation schemes  than  to  have  a  great  uprising  such 
as  we  have  never  known  on  behalf  of  the  foreign 
fields ;  for  the  history  of  the  cluirch  teaches 
clearly  that  the  missionary  epochs  have  been  the 
ones  which  have  most  stimulated  and  purified  the 
church  on  the  home  field." 

We  shall  need  not  only  the  eighteen  new  mis- 
sionaries, but  recruits  to  take  the  place  of  those 
who  from  time  to  time  fall  in  battle.  With  vast 
multitudes  coming  out  of  centuries  of  darkness, 
calling  for  Christian  leaders,  when  did  young 
men  and  women  face  such  an  opportunity  as  we 
now  bring  to  them  for  service  abroad?  May 
scores  of  our  young  people  enter  into  the  joy 
115 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

and  fellowship  of  Jesus  Christ  as  Mrs.  Howard 
Taylor  did,  when  she  went  as  a  missionary  to 
China.  She  said :  "There  came  a  summer  day 
to  me  when,  all  alone,  reading  the  second  and 
third  chapters  of  Philippians,  Jesus  Christ  lifted 
upon  my  soul  a  vision  and  showed  me  this,  that 
life  offered  me  now  an  opportunity  that  heaven 
itself  could  never  give.  Christ  seemed  to  say, 
'Will  you  ever  in  those  bright,  endless  ages  to 
come,  be  able  to  weep  for  me,  to  be  lonely  for  my 
sake,  to  give  up  anything  for  me  ?  Will  you  ever 
again  have  the  opportunity  of  entering  a  little 
bit  into  my  suffering — all  that  Calvary  meant  to 
me?' 

"I  looked  into  his  face  and  said :  'O  Lord,  I 
want  that,  I  want  it  now,  and  cost  what  it  may, 
I  want  to  follow  thee.'  The  Lord  led  me  and 
I  followed  him,  and  went  to  China,  and  looking 
up  into  his  face  could  say,  'O  Christ,  all  is  clear 
now  between  my  heart  and  thee,  all  is  clear  now.' 
Oh,  the  flood  of  joy  that  came  to  my  heart  as  he 
seemed  to  draw  nearer  than  he  had  ever  been 
before !" 

It  is  for  joy  like  that  in  all  our  local  churches 
throughout  America  that  we  plead.  This  call  is 
not  for  foreign  missionaries  alone,  but  for  every 
layman  in  the  Church  at  home  to  consecrate  his 
life,  his  business  ability,  as  well  as  his  money  for 
the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  There 
is  but  one  thing  that  will  bring  this  supreme  fel- 
lowship.     It  is  to  form  a  partnership  with  Jesus 

116 


What  Shall  Be  Our  Response 

Christ  to  work  with  him  through  life — on  the  fir- 
ing line  at  the  front  if  prepared  for  it;  but  if 
you  remain  at  home,  then  be  equally  devoted  to 
Jesus  Christ  to  make  the  Church  a  dynamo  for 
the  evangelization  of  America  and  of  the  world. 
Christian  laymen  are  discovering  that  there  is  no 
substitute  for  the  joy  of  Christian  service.  One 
thoroughly  enlisted  writes :  "We  have  found 
God's  service  a  keen  delight,  and  some  of  us 
never  knew  before  what  exhilaration  there  is  in 
cutting  expenses  for  the  sake  of  defeating  the 
devil.  There  has  been  real  excitement  of  soul 
in  taking  hold  of  God's  plans  and  watching  the 
answers  to  our  prayers." 

Let  Us  Now  Act 

As  I  journeyed  through  Japan,  China,  and 
the  Philippines,  I  saw  at  close  range  souls  being 
led  out  of  darkness  into  the  light  of  God,  and 
new  churches  being  organized  out  of  raw  pa- 
gans who  were  recently  converted  to  Jesus  Christ. 
A  sense  of  awe  came  over  me  as  I  realized  that 
right  before  my  eyes  was  taking  place  in  China, 
and  in  the  entire  Orient,  that  great  transforma- 
tion which  took  place  thirteen  centuries  ago  in 
England  and  Germany,  when  Christian  mission- 
aries entered  those  countries  and  preached  for 
the  first  time  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  our  pagan 
ancestors,  some  of  whom  they  found  eating 
human  flesh. 

117 


The  Call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

The  mighty  change  and  uplift  that  came  to 
England,  Germany,  and  later  to  the  United  States 
through  the  gospel  is  now  coming  to  one-third 
of  the  human  race  who  live  on  the  western  rim 
of  the  Pacific.  As  I  witnessed  the  mighty  works 
of  God  and  saw  the  vast  unoccupied  fields,  and 
noted  the  paucity  of  the  laborers  and  the  changes 
that  are  sweeping  with  cyclonic  power  and  rapid- 
ity over  the  far  East,  the  conviction  fastened 
itself  upon  me  with  giant  grip  that  this  is  the 
time  of  all  times  to  plant  Christianity  as  a  per- 
manent controlling  power  in  the  Orient. 

"O  Zion,  haste  thy  mission  high  fulfilling, 
To  tell  to  all  the  world  that  God  is  light; 

That  he  who  made  all  nations  is  not  willing 
One  soul  should  perish  lost  in  shades  of  night. 

"Give  of  thy  sons  to  bear  the  message  glorious; 
Give  of  thy  wealth  to  speed  them  on  their  way, 
Pour  out  thy  soul  for  them  in  prayer  victorious; 
And  all  thou  spendest  Jesus  will  repay." 

S.  S.  Hough, 
Secretary. 


118 


AppenMx 


Appfttbtx 

Books  for  Further  Investigation 

General — 

"Open  Doors,"  the  annual  report  of  the  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  for  1911-1912.      10  cents. 

"Our  Foreign  Missionary  Enterprise,"  by  Mills, 
Funk,  Hough.      Cloth,  50  cents;  paper,  35  cents. 

Report  of  the  Edinburgh  World  Missionary  Con- 
ference, 10  volumes.     $5.00,  express  extra. 

"The  Decisive  Hour  of  Christian  Missions,"  by 
John  R.  Mott.     Cloth,  58  cents;  paper,  43  cents. 

China — 

"The  Uplift  of  China,"  Revised   Edition,   1912,  by 

Arthur    H.    Smith.       Cloth,    58   cents;    paper,   43 

cents. 
"The  Changing  Chinese,"  by  E.  A.  Ross.      Perhaps 

the  most  readable  of  the  recent  books.     $2.50. 
"The  Education  of  Women  in  China,"  by  Margaret 

E.  Burton.     $1.25. 

Japan— 

"Sunrise  in  the  Sunrise  Kingdom,"  by  John  H.  De 

Forest.      Cloth,  58  cents;  paper,  43  cents. 
"Japan    and    Its    Regeneration,"    by    Otis    Cory. 

Cloth,  58  cents;  paper,  43  cents. 

Philippines — 

"A    New    Era    in    the    Philippines,"    by    Arthur    J. 
Brown.      $1.25. 
Porto  Rico — 

"Advance  in  the  Antilles,"  by  H.  B.  Grose.  Cloth, 
58  cents;  paper,  43  cents. 

Africa — 

"Daybreak  in  the  Dark  Continent,"  revised  edition, 
1912.     By  W.  S.  Naylor.     Cloth,  58  cents;  paper, 
43  cents. 
"Fetichism    in    West    Africa,"    by    R.    H.    Nassau. 
$2.50. 

120 


For  Pastors  and  Missionary  Committees — 
"The  Church  Missionary  Committee."     5  cents. 
"A  World  Cycle  of  Prayer."      10  cents. 
"Foreign  Mission  Study  Circular."      Free. 
The  New  Share  Plan  Pamphlet.     Free. 

Missionary    Map   of   the  World,  9   feet  x   5   feet. 

$3.00. 
"Manual     of     Missionary     Methods     for     Sunday 

School  Workers,"  by  G.  H.  Trull.    50  cents. 
Chart:    "Our  Task  Abroad."     25  cents. 
Set  of  six  Missionary  Charts,  36x44  inches,  printed 

in  two  colors.      On  Map  Bond  Paper,  $1.00;  on 

cloth-backed  paper,  $2.00. 

Leaflets  for  careful  distribution.     For  samples  and 
any  of  the  above  books,  address, 

FOREIGN   MISSIONARY   SOCIETY, 

1003  U.  B.  Building, 

Dayton,  Ohio. 


121 


FORM   OF  WILL   OR  BEQUEST 

For  those  who  desire  the  correct  form  for  a  be- 
quest to  the  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  we  suggest 
the  following: 

"I  do  give  and  bequeath  the  sum  of 

dollars  to  the  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the 
United  Brethren  in  Christ,  a  corporation  existing 
under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Ohio." 

Or,  if  the  bequest  be  of  real  estate,  as  follows: 

"I  do  give,  devise,  and  bequeath  all  that  (here 
describe  the  property)  to  the  Foreign  Missionary 
Society  of  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  a  corpor- 
ation existing  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Ohio." 

ANNUITY    PLAN 

Those  who  wish  their  money  to  go  finally  to  the 
foreign  missionary  cause,  and  who  cannot  afford  as 
yet  to  be  deprived  of  the  income,  are  asked  to  con- 
sider the  annuity  plan  of  the  Foreign  Missionary 
Society.  Wills  are  sometimes  broken  and  bequests 
to  missionary  societies  are  lost.  By  giving  your 
money  to  the  Board  while  you  live,  you  become  your 
own  executor  and  avoid  the  risk  of  subsequent  diver- 
sion of  the  funds.  The  annuity  plan  allows  you  a 
reasonable  rate  of  interest  for  your  money  every  six 
months  as  lonjj  as  you  live. 

Correspondence  concerning  the  above  plan  should 
be  addressed  to  S.  S.  Hough,  General  Secretary  of 
the  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  1003  U.  B.  Building, 
Dayton,  Ohio. 


122 


"LIVINGSTONE  the 
PATHFINDER" 

by  BASIL  MATHEWS 

For 
Boys  and  Girls 

The  book  tells  of  this  hero's  adventures 
among  the  wild  beasts  and  savage  men, 
his  perilous  journeys  by  canoe  and  on  ox- 
back,  along  the  rivers  and  through  the 
tangled  forests  of  Africa,  where  no  white 
man  had  ever  been  before. 

Twenty-Four  Pages  of  Pictures 

ready  in  January' 
Cloth  50c,  paper  35c,  postage  8c. 

FOREIGN  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 
1003  U.  B.  Building  DAYTON,  OHIO 


BX9878.76.M42     .  .    „ 

The  call  of  China  and  the  Islands 

Princeton  Theological  Setninary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00047  1260 


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